Caelicolae Liberi: Assimilation
by Hieda no Akyuu
Summary: Part 1 of 3. In the events before Kaname Madoka transcended existence to become a concept to save all Magical Girls in history, two Magical Girls fight to keep their home and friends safe from witches. Eventually, however, when the Law of the Cycle was established, these two girls are left behind, for reasons neither they nor God can explain...
1. The Military System

I'm sure there's some dipshit out there, some famous dude or historical person, that said something along the lines of "You define yourself with the kinds of friends you surround yourself with".

I need to find out who that is so I make sure I can punch that asshole in his grave.

'Cause like, you know, historical figures usually aren't girls.

Which is funny, 'cause I'm a magical girl.

Dunno where I'm trying to go with this.

After waking up Hae Eun today, I figure we needed to go out shopping for school supplies. School's gonna start up in just under a week, and now that we're going into high school, it's time for me to take shit seriously.

As usual, I find her all rolled up in her freakin' castle of a bed. By castle, I mean that she's got like a fortress made of pillows and blankets on her canopy bed, and she's underneath all of it. I'm not exactly sure if she does that on purpose or if she does that in her sleep. Actually, doing that in her sleep would be pretty damn impressive.

Just so you know, Hae Eun isn't a morning person. At all. When it comes to school, she can manage to get up on her own most of the time so we can haul ass to school, but if she's had a rough night, either because we're out hunting witches or she's up playing GameBattles with her friends online over Xbox. Either way, not a good morning person. At all. Did I say that twice in a row? Whatever.

Which is the exact opposite of me. I hate staying up. I need my beauty sleep, is all it is, so don't judge me!

She wanted to sleep in (no surprise) since she said she wanted to enjoy the last bit of summer vacation we still had. While I'm sympathetic to her reasoning, the only problem with that kinda excuse is that she's said that everyday for the past two months. Only so much a single freakin' excuse can do for you.

I let her sleep about a half hour more so I could finish up cooking breakfast for us. I was kinda hoping I could get Hae Eun to teach me how to make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast before school starts. I just don't get how she's able to get those chips melted so damn perfectly into the pancake batter...urgghh, pisses me off so much. Not at Hae Eun specifically, mind you, just at my own stupid incompetence of _not knowing how to properly melt chocolate chips! ! ! !_

Once I get done cooking, though, I go to wake up Hae Eun for good. Literally, I just rip off the layers of blankets and pillows she got going on there and pull her out, drag her to the breakfast table that we use for all three meals of the day, which is kinda weird why we even call it the "breakfast table", and sat her down on her usual chair.

Honestly, for fuck's sake, sometimes I wonder how that girl's been able to live on her own during middle school before we met each other. Shit, wait, she had maids and stuff to look after her, didn't she...I forgot.

And while we're at that, it was _her _who met _me_, wasn't it.

Sigh.

Today's breakfast is plain pancakes with raisins, whipped cream, and strawberries, with a bit of Hershey's chocolate sauce to top it all off. That's to make up for the fact that I don't know how to melt chocolate chips inside pancake mix just yet.

"Why didn't you just let me sleep a little bit more?" Hae Eun asks me when we started eating. Oh, that girl's so cute sometimes.

"Because we need to go get school supplies. You don't have any at home, right?" I tell her.

"...you can go by yourself, can't you?"

"...hey, now..."

Part of me just wants to let the girl sleep more, but the bigger part of me knows what's better for her. Or, at least this's what I think is better for her.

Nah, I'll be honest. I just wanna go shopping with her again. It's fun to me.

Even though I know she hates going shopping, since she thinks it's a waste of time, hehe. Hey well, at least we're not going out shopping for clothes. If there's ever a single way to piss her off for the rest of the week, it's shopping for clothes. Honestly, this girl sometimes doesn't even act girly at all. And she calls it "refraining from participating in mainstream acts of societal idiocy". Like, what the fuck does that mean!?

After breakfast, we get ready to head out. It's like, what, already 10? Which is positively early by Hae Eun's standards. I'm usually good to go whenever we head out anywhere - just throw on a tank top, some jeans, and boom, I'm ready to roll.

Hae Eun, though...now, this's something I don't ever think I'll get, but she _never_ wears casual. Well, actually, I take that back, she's worn casual before. But rarely. Like, geez, ten days out of the year she'll wear something other than a business suit. Tight black jacket, gold buttons, white button-up shirt, knee-high socks and a long black skirt. She'll always wear that, even if it's hotter than the Sahara outside. The only variations to that'll be pants for the skirt, maybe some pantyhose on some days, or she'll go totally Gothic lolita but still manage to look professional. Dunno how she does it. Maybe it's just that I've gotten used to her...eccentric dressing habits.

Hae Eun Jeannie Baek. What a name.

Because we're both emancipated orphans as far as the state of California's concerned, we both have our drivers' licenses before high school. Normally they'd normally never allow that, but Hae Eun's pop was a military general. I think she mentioned at one point he was a four-star, I could be wrong though. Well, that was before he got assassinated.

We hop into our Chrylser 300, and I get into the driver's seat while she rides shotgun, and we're off for the day.

Kyuubey's sitting in the back, that little fucker.

* * *

Baek Hae Eun, American name Jeannie.

She was born here at Torrance Memorial Hospital. Her mum died in childbirth. She says that she's never known her mother outside of photos and whatnot. She can say some real obvious shit sometimes.

Her pop, like I said, was an American general. Being mostly South Korean by blood, he vowed revenge upon the North Koreans by moving to America after a North Korean-backed assassination plot to kill the South Korean president back in the day killed his family. He intended to rise up through the American military ranks and take revenge for his family that way, since America's military's considered the strongest in the world right now. Another obvious point. And that's what he did, and he came surprisingly close to it, too. Before he took a bullet to his heart.

Kinda hits me hard every time she talks about her parents. Seeing what I had to go through.

She's younger than me, though. By like, five months. Maybe less. And like, three inches shorter, too. I guess you could say I pose like an older sister image to her, but I'll talk about that later.

Because of her pop's job background, Hae Eun traveled around with him. And by travel, I mean all around the motherfuckin' globe. There isn't a single continent that girl hasn't set foot on at _some_ point in her life.

Yes, she did feed a baby emperor penguin once. She says she only remembers the part where the daddy penguin chased her away.

Back on track, her pop also trained her as a covert op. At first, when I heard that from her, I was all like, "Dafuq kinda dad does _that_ to their kid?" But when I thought about it, I can't blame him. I mean, if you're so hellbent on getting revenge on the deaths of your family, I can see why you'd pit your own kids against whoever did it. Kinda like sweet revenge, if you think about it. Not that I should be talking about anything family related myself.

I think she was a Master Sergeant, 3rd class before her pop got shot. I'd have to ask her again, but at the same time, for obvious reasons, I don't wanna.

We met right before eighth grade started. We actually knew each other way back from the summer going into sixth grade, but we never talked. It's like one of those weird relationships where you know the other person enough to talk to them and not feel like the most awkward turtle in the world, but yet you don't, because you never talked before. Ooohhhhhh, the irony.

But before eighth grade was when I learned that she, like me, was a Magical Girl. I won't delve into the details since that's something I can live without thinking about any further in my life, but bottom line is that she was the one who saved my Soul Gem from becoming fully tainted from despair. One of those cliche "you're not alone" moments. Makes me wanna die of embarrassment every time I think about it. But I do owe my life to her. That's why I'm usually lenient on her whenever she doesn't do as I say when I'm trying to take care of her or whatever.

Did I ever mention her monocle? Dayum. Like, I've read about people wearing monocles 'n shit, but in my mind, I dunno 'bout you, but I always thought monocles were like, stuff that British dudes would wear. Am I weird for thinking that? Hopefully not, and if I am, then well, shit, I guess I'm weird, then. But Hae Eun wears a monocle on her right eye.

Hae Eun's an albino. Her hair is pure white, the whitest white you'll ever see. Because of that, it's hard for people to know she's Asian, 'bout half South Korean and a mix of Japanese, Chinese, whatever else's in her blood. Honestly, there've been times where I thought her hair was just one massive pillow and I'd literally sleep on her hair. Usually she'd kick me in the nose or something, but I was sleepy, so hey.

Her eyes are black, though. Reason for that's 'cause her wish was to get her eyesight back. When she was first born, she was full-blown albino, red eyes 'n white hair. Before her pop died in the hospital after his assassination attempt, he arranged with his other generals and officers to have her return home so she would be safe from the political hell that the Koreas were going through at the time. But when she did, she started going blind. If you don't know already, albinism sometimes fucks with your eyesight, for whatever reason, I hear there's a couple ways that it does. Hers was something called amblyopia, but her case was apparently way worse than the usual. Her right eye started giving out first. She says she got pissed and sliced her own eye open, which explains the scar she's got running across up 'n over her right eye. It's kinda faint, but it's definitely still there. When her left eye started going bad, too, Kyuubey found her, and boom, Magical Girl status.

I don't really get why her eyes returned to black, though. Honestly, red is wayyyyy cooler. But whatever.

Oh, and just for the record, this is just a personal opinion, but...I honestly think she's way stronger than I can ever be. Back when we first became BFF's like we are now, I was just some middle schooler swinging around a double-ended halberd not knowing how the fuck to even use it.

So when we first met as Magical Girls, imagine my surprise when she walked over to me slingin' a freakin' battle rifle. An M-14 Aimpoint, specifically.

You're damn right I remember our first meeting together as Magical Girls with perfection. That's not something I'll ever forget. Period.

Y'know, this whole Magical Girl thing, at first I thought it was all fantasy 'n shit, but nope. Nope, nope nope nope nope nope nope.

Hae Eun taught me the ways of the Magical Girl, so to say. Witch killing, mainly. But it was she who got me conditioned to who I am now. Did she change my personality along the way? There's no denying she definitely might've. But she's the one who kept me alive, and I'll never forget that, either.

So after Hae Eun saved me, she invited me to come live with her. Given my circumstances, I couldn't refuse. Back then, I thought, "Well damn, I owe my neck to her, so I guess I gotta do what she says." But I quickly realized that she wanted us to live together for the sole purpose of being able to defeat witches together. Because for all the ridiculous fucking power that she's capable of, there're some things that she'll come across and find that it's kinda nice to have someone else get her back.

It's also nice to have someone else wake her up for school every day, I suppose. But I don't mind that at all. Never did, never will.

I guess we quickly became good friends after that. Even though we never had like a sit-down talk, saying all that bubbly shit like "Oh, you're my bestest friend evaarrrrr~!", we both kinda silently acknowledged that we were best friends and comrades.

Now that I think about it, we just might be a little bit closer than just best friends. But that'll be a secret between us two only, heh.

People at school and anyone who's not Korean call Hae Eun by her American name, Jeannie. Not me. I'm the only non-Korean who she'll let call her by her Korean name. Even though she's never told me why, I'm pretty damn sure it's because she hates her Korean name. Presumably 'cause of what happened to her pop. So the fact that she lets me call her Hae Eun makes me feel all warm and bubbly inside.

Or, maybe I'm just being a clueless bitch and that the only reason why she's ever let me call her by her Korean name is that she's gotten used to it by now. I do remember her giving me stinkeyes before when we first met, when I asked if I could call her by her Korean name. But she never told me that I couldn't, so there you go.

* * *

We arrive at Staples. As usual, the parking here is terrible. Fulla people also coming down to buy school supplies too, but it's whatever. I have Kyuubey stay in the car, he can roast in the morning summer heat. Sucks that Hae Eun's Chrysler isn't black so he can roast even more.

Lemme tell you, I used to feel so damn awkward just being with Hae Eun whenever we headed out to go do stuff, whether it was just to go out 'n eat 'n have fun or on important business of some kind. Imagine a girl in a tank top and Levi's three inches taller than another girl who's all formal and neatly dressed for like a business meeting or some shit, and you have me and Hae Eun. That's what we look like 360 days out of the year. But I quickly got used to that, too. It ain't nothin' but a thang now.

We spend a good half hour there picking out whatever we need and don't have back at home. We also met a few familiar faces while we were there, too. Lemme tell you this right now, the only thing that'll make Hae Eun stay longer for shopping is people we know. I dunno how ta say this without sounding like diva queens, but we're both really fucking popular, and it's because of our hair. I remember Hae Eun being plenty popular in middle school because she's naturally albino, 'n that snowy hair of hers really brings all the boys to the yard, I'm not even kiddin'. After I became a Magical Girl, I decided it'd be cool to dye my hair, and I just went with an orange-blue gradient on a whim, but when I saw it for myself, I thought it looked hoooooooooooorrible. I had to stick with it, though, since it's what I had chosen, but surprisingly people really liked it on me, saying I looked a lot cuter. Honestly didn't expect that, and I thought people were only saying that because they were low-key making fun of me, but too many people said I looked so much better with my dyed hair that I decided people liked seeing it on me, I suppose. I still think it looks like shit, but I've kept dying it the same color ever since.

One of the girls, Lucy Maybell, ran into us as we were debating whether to stick with normal Ticonderoga pencils or switch to mechanical like everyone else.

"Hey, you two! So you're going to Narbonne High too, right?" she asks us, and I cheerily reply.

"Yup! You're coming with us, aren'tcha?"

"Yeah. I hope we're in the same classes again."

"I mean, we all chose the same classes, I think. Not that there was a lot of classes for us to choose, anyway."

"Yeah, especially when Jeannie's, like, three grades ahead in math and already taking Latin 3 Honors."

Hae Eun doesn't respond to praise at all, mind you. "I'm bad at English, though. I don't like essays," she says in her usual quiet but distinct voice as she busies herself browsing through different kinds of mechanical pencils.

"Well, hopefully we get into the same English class together, since I'm pretty good at writing essays," Lucy mentions, with an obvious tinge of hope.

At that, Hae Eun faces her and grabs her hands, shaking them up and down. "I'll be sure to copy them," Hae Eun says with the straightest face a cheater can ever pull when asking such a thing.

"Er...just straight up copying them is a little much, but..." we all laugh, and Hae Eun breaks a smile, too, saying "Yay!" in her usual cute way.

Whenever Hae Eun's happy or hears something good, she's got a habit of raising her arms and utterin' "Yay!" I dunno why she does it, but she's freakin' adorable whenever she does it.

We decide to shop around with Lucy for the rest of the way. "Are you excited for high school, though?" Lucy asks us. "Honestly, it kinda scares me. They say it's a lot tougher."

"Well, maybe for us two, but for Hae Eun, it ain't," I say, and both of us giggle. "Nah, personally, I don't think it'll be that bad. I think makin' friends is a better idea. That way, you can have a lot of people you can go to for help with schoolwork and whatnot, right?"

"Oh yeah! And then we can ask around for upperclassmen to help us, too!"

"Well, you do realize we probably won't be having upperclassmen as classmates for most of our classes, right? I don't even think it's a good idea to trust them anyway for anything..."

"Aw, c'mon, don't be so mean! They can't all be like that!"

"I'd much rather trust people from middle school, that's all I'm sayin'. I'm sure we'll get to know other people, but for now...actually, do you know how many people from our middle school's gonna go to Narbonne?"

Lucy doesn't know, either. "Our middle school's not too far, so there should be a lot of us going there," she thinks. "I wonder why there aren't more people here, though. It's only a week before initiation."

"Oh God, you're really expecting crap outta all of 'em?" I laugh really loudly. "I swear, our class's gotta be the laziest class our town's ever seen! You see all of 'em? You can count the number of kids who actually cared about school with one hand, and one of 'em's standing right next to me."

Hae Eun gives me a "did-you-say-my-name" kinda look.

We also run into Haley and her older brother Raphael, who we call Ruffles for shits and giggles 'cause he loves the chips. Specifically sour cream 'n onion. Haley's also going to Narbonne, and her brother's a junior, one of the captains on the swim team. We kinda mesh with them, so you can imagine us walkin' around buying school supplies and whatnot for another hour, debating the merits of having more highlighters as opposed to red pens and stuff that concerns problems with school supplies.

Stuff that Magical Girls, at the end of the day, really don't give a shit about but do it anyway because it's way better than what they'd normally have to do.

* * *

We drive back home, but Hae Eun says she doesn't have time to make lunch with me because she wants to reach Grand Masters on the Starcraft II N.A. ladder by the tonight, so we swing by Panda Express to order some to-gos before heading back home. We live in a house that's way too damn big for two girls living by themselves in some random pocket of the woods up on a hill big enough for a town. I'm not too sure how to describe it, so I'll shut up since I know I'll screw up with the descriptions somehow.

Magical Girls don't ever age, do we. But for some reason, Hae Eun and I've been growing like normal girls would. Maybe Magical Girls have a certain age they grow 'til before they stop? We'd know sooner or later. Hopefully later. I like working out, so it'll suck to know that I'm just working out for absolutely no gain whatsoever. Then again, we're Magical Girls, so the whole concept of working out is completely unnecessary, theoretically speaking, right? But I do it anyway. Helps me build my endurance and whatnot.

Hae Eun tosses a piece of orange chicken over to Kyuubey, who snatches it with his mouth and eats it.

"There'll probably be some more tonight too. You should be able to see them," he mentions.

Fuckin' furball.

"How far?" Hae Eun asks.

"It's not within this town. Probably the next one over."

"Hm. Not far at all," she says and returns to eating.

For the record, just know that I fucking hate that thing. Whatever the fuck that thing is, if there was a way to annihilate him and everything about him, I'd do it. Even if I became a witch to do it, I'd fucking do it. It's no secret to us that witches spawn from the tainted Soul Gems of former Magical Girls. We found that shit out the hard way one time, when one of our classmates from middle school also turned out to be a Magical Girl and had turned into a witch. I just remember that she was a bitch to put down.

Kyuubey's fucking up to something, like something on like a grand scale or something. I know he and his motherfuckin' godforsaken kind's got something planned in the works. Dunno what it is, but if I have to, I'ma die trying to find out and make sure everyone knows.

Which is strange. Besides that one Magical Girl I mentioned we had killed because she'd turned into a witch, Hae Eun and I haven't run into another Magical Girl since. Kyuubey says it's because he's already told the Magical Girls closest to our range that we're more than capable of taking care of any witches that pop up in our area, but our range is fucking huge thanks to Hae Eun's powers. All we need to do is ride a goddamn harrier jet over to where we need to go, kill it, and come right back. Don't think there's a single Magical Girl out there who can do that quite yet. I'd like to meet them if they exist.

I suppose God's the only one who can match Hae Eun's power, let alone exceed it. But whoever God is, he'll have to show himself first.


	2. Sortie

All that time we had been out shopping for school supplies, I was thinking about why Antonia still didn't know how to melt chocolate chips into the pancakes themselves. Hershey's chocolate is nice, but the only problem is...

...Antonia doesn't like chocolate.

So why?

Strange.

Antonia is a strange girl. I suppose that's all there is to her.

Oh well. I have gotten accustomed to it by now.

Not that I should be talking.

By the time we got home, I had already eaten the lunch we bought from Panda. I am a fast eater. Compared to Antonia, anyhow. I hop right on my absolutely beautiful rig I built myself just a month ago and boot up Starcraft.

I'm actually lying. Antonia helped me a bit.

More like a lot.

Antonia is surprisingly good at building computers. She should take it up as a side job for our friends.

I play Terran. I guess it only makes sense. These days, lots of people are complaining about balance. Protoss overpowered, Medevacs imbalanced, yeah right, bullshit.

I miss being Grandmaster on the North American servers. I can reach GM on the Korean servers too, but I don't have the time for that anymore. Last ladder season, I was too busy dealing with witches and school to grind, but I know I can reach GM before summer vacation ends. If not by tonight, by this week.

I just really want to be GM again.

Thus begins my grind session for today. Hopefully I don't run into too many six-poolers and cannon rushers, or someone is gonna get bunker rushed.

Let's see...right now I'm in Masters, #88 in my ladder pool. This should be doable.

I presume Antonia will be practicing making homemade mochi in the kitchen, given the sounds I'm hearing. She has been working on that for a few days now.

I'm looking forward to some of it after I reach Grandmaster.

* * *

Ainsley, Antonia Aneirin.

Born Chicago, Illinois.

No siblings. Like me.

Welsh-Scottish mainly. Probably a few drops of other European bloods here or there.

Her parents were entrepreneurs. More specifically, shopkeepers. They owned several businesses, including a dry laundry service, a home interior hardware store, and a small cafe.

I first met Antonia in sixth grade. She was outgoing. Really. Perhaps you could say she was a popular girl. She certainly knew a whole bunch more people than I did.

Let me rephrase that. She knew people for better reasons than I knew people.

Because of the freakshow that my hair makes me out to be. I fucking hate it.

Antonia suggested that I dye it, like she does. I have never had the heart to tell her that I keep my hair as it is, because it's what Appa wanted.

Appa is Daddy in Korean.

I hate Korean.

I hate _being_ Korean.

But I think Antonia already knows that I have a reason to never touch my hair.

We only knew each other by acquaintance during most of middle school. It wasn't that Antonia wasn't popular - I was actually envious of her, being able to get along with so many people so easily. I know it's perhaps a personality clash. But I noticed that Antonia was also not liked by many more. Other girls in school who were jealous of her natural looks, and some guys who thought their own girlfriends were getting too distracted by her.

Specifically, her hair was the factor. Before she dyed it orange-blue, she had a natural black-brown gradient. I was honestly very, very jealous of the beauty of her hair. It was what I would have had, had I not been born with this horrible albinism that makes me look like a snowman in Southern California.

Naturally, she was bullied a lot.

I was born into a military family. Hence, it was not strange to me that my father would train me in the likeness of his ways. To me, it made perfect sense. I did not mind that other children my age would be walking off to kindergarten, and I would oftentimes be standing by on the street across from them with a suppressed MK-22 in my winter coat. This mentality I carried with me when Appa sent me back home to return to the normal life of a middle-schooler after he was shot. It certainly didn't help when a few of Appa's fellow generals arrived at my house a few days after I returned home, telling me that Appa did not survive his wounds.

He was shot in the heart. I love Appa, but...even I knew not even God could save him at that point. I only thanked God that He gave Appa enough time to live to bid me farewell. At least God let Appa spare me the pain of watching him die in front of me at the hospital. I really don't think I could have handled that.

This tangent justifies my initial reaction to Antonia getting bullied. I was bitter. I reveled in watching people suffer, because I truly believed no one could suffer the same amount that I had suffered. Appa meant the world to me. I had no one else. And now, I was alone. So watching Antonia suffer like that...

...gave me joy.

Antonia doesn't know this, but we actually became Magical Girls roughly around the same time. Knowing Kyuubey, this is not surprising. Prior to our conversions, Kyuubey stated that our town had an alarming dearth of Magical Girls to patrol the area for witches, so he had been operating in our town for quite some time. He said that most of the potential candidates he found were far below subpar to the intelligence quota he had been looking for. Which makes perfect sense.

I used Kyuubey to keep an eye on Antonia, to make sure her power did not surpass mine. Kyuubey stated that there would be no danger whatsoever, saying that I was the strongest Magical Girl he had seen in quite some time. But I wanted to make sure.

At the end of summer, the summer going into eighth grade, Kyuubey told me that Antonia was fighting an extremely powerful witch that Antonia wouldn't be able to fend off on her own. But it was too late. By the time he and I reached her...

...she had already killed her parents.

I saw her parents. Only once. At one of the award ceremonies for our middle school tag football team when they won the state regionals. That was right after Antonia became a Magical Girl, so she was too weak to sense that there was going to be a witch that night. Kyuubey had me take care of it, and on our way back, I stopped by our MPR.

That is how I knew that the heads that Antonia had knelt before on that day were her parents'. She had used that demonic halberd of hers to decapitate them, because the witch that she fought had managed to infect them.

To this day, I constantly debate with myself.

Did I feel more emotion upon my realization that Appa was going to die or that Antonia was forced to kill her parents?

Or was it the fact that I saw a girl mourning the loss of her parents, just like I had done for Appa?

Antonia and I know now that witches can arise from the deteriorated Soul Gems of Magical Girls. He never told us, but we found out when we fought a witch a year ago in eighth grade that turned out to be the witch of another Magical Girl with whom Kyuubey had contracted.

But I did not know that when I saw the Soul Gem of Antonia blackening rapidly.

I just sensed that something very, very bad would happen if the Gem blackened completely.

So I went over to her and hugged her. Really, really tightly. It was no secret to her that I didn't particularly like her in middle school. I would imagine I was the last person that she would have expected to give her a hug when she needed it most.

"I lost my parents, too. I understand your pain. It's okay to cry."

That's what I said to her.

Thinking back again, I wonder if I needed that more than she did.

Since then, I asked her if she wanted to come live with me. With her parents gone, there was no one she could go to with whom to live. I was the only option for her, and I knew it. So ever since then, we lived together, and we slayed together.

I found out after some research and questioning Antonia that her parents became infected because all of their businesses, by a swift stroke of massively bad luck, all went bankrupt at the same time. They owed enough money that would knock them into financial hell three times over. Overwhelmed by grief, they became easy prey for the witch that night. I do not know the details, and I doubt Antonia wants to spare me those details.

Antonia is, as mentioned, a halberd user. It is my firm belief that her weapon is indeed demonic. It is in no way a standard-issue weapon like most Magical Girls, which was why I wanted to keep tabs on her initially. She has christened her weapon "Anastasia" or "Annie" for short, because the name was originally meant to be given to her nonexistent younger sister that turned out to be a miscarriage.

The bottom half of her halberd is a two-foot-tall steel blade that never rusts, but upon her will, it will spit arced teeth that will behave like a chainsaw.

The top half is something I can only describe as something akin to an Alien vs. Predator movie. A steel blade that can shapeshift into a xenomorphic head. I have seen it take enemies and chew them into bloody pulps on its own. Then I watch Antonia get angry at it because she needs to waste time sitting in the bath to wash all the blood off.

Antonia told me that her wish was to get stronger so she wouldn't get bullied anymore; thus, it is understandable that she as a Magical Girl has enormous strength. That is also compounded by the fact that she is an avid fan of going to the gym every day. She prides herself on having a fit and strong body. Normally, Magical Girls do not have to worry about physical fitness, because our bodies regenerate so long as our Soul Gems are intact. But it is quite clear that Antonia, specifically, benefits much more with her fitness schedule because of her wish.

I sometimes wish that my own power could be easily accounted for like Antonia's. I have yet to understand why I am capable of this...ungodly power.

* * *

I've reached Grandmaster much sooner than I had thought, and it took me only six hours. It looks like Antonia has already headed off to the gym, and Kyuubey is curled up on my bed. I crawl onto my bed to rest my eyes for a bit, and Kyuubey gets up, wondering what I am up to.

"I'm just going to to lie down for a bit."

I lie down on my back and put Kyuubey on my stomach, rubbing his head. Antonia and I are already aware that Kyuubey and his kind have no emotion, nor any understanding of it. Antonia hates Kyuubey, but personally, I do not mind. I have been in such a state before. When one is conditioned to become an emotionless killing machine from a young age such as I, it is difficult to regain consciousness of such "emotions" again. Ironically, it was Appa's death that jolted me back to being human again, becoming once again aware of the fact that somewhere deep inside my heart, I still kept a small vestige of those "emotions" that I previously had no use for. Thus, I get along just fine with Kyuubey.

Even though there is no point to me petting him, because he does not understand why I oftentimes pet him like I like to do.

Antonia does not like animals. I, on the other hand, love animals. Especially cats and dogs. Incidentally, Antonia especially hates cats and dogs. She has never been able to give me a convincing reason why. She bears no allergy to them; it is simply a matter of...preference...? I do not know how to describe it. So Kyuubey is the closest thing we have to a pet. Understandably, Antonia really doesn't like it when I pet Kyuubey like a cat.

Perhaps Kyuubey appreciates it. You can't say no to a free massage, after all, because if you do, you are either very angry, or very dead.

Even after obtaining my wish, my eyes can only take so much strain a day. If I spend the day without marathoning video games or other forms of electronics, then my eyes are comfortable. But my eyes are still heavily sensitive, so taking these rests are imperative.

I have always noticed that whenever I close my eyes, I feel as though a heavy rock is immediately rolled off my mind. It is very relaxing. This is rather counterintuitive, because I do not like sleeping. I feel it is a waste of time. I could be using that time to be doing so many other things, but unfortunately being a Magical Girl doesn't mean that I am able to skimp on sleep. It still doesn't stop me from having a terrible sleep schedule, however.

Perhaps this is because deep inside, I am more comfortable not knowing or acknowledging what I must face in my life. Perhaps I feel much more relaxed with my eyes closed because that way, I do not have to face adversity or the horrible things that Magical Girls must see throughout the courses of our lives.

Perhaps it is because deep inside, I may feel that death is so much more convenient than life.

I don't lie around on my bed for too long, though. If I do that, I have a habit of drifting off automatically without realizing it. I head to the kitchen to make dinner, since Antonia made breakfast this morning. Kyuubey joins me, since I suppose he has nothing better to do. Perhaps he wants scraps. Is he a dog?

I make something simple, just some grilled chicken salad, purple rice, and Korean seaweed soup. Grill the lettuce and tomatoes just right, sprinkle a little bit of furikake for sweetness, and grill for enhanced crunchiness. Purple rice is for Antonia, since white rice is absolutely worthless as far as true nutritional gain is concerned. the seaweed soup is one of my favorite soups. Sometimes, being Korean isn't so bad after all.

Antonia arrives home just as I set the table.

"Oh, you made dinner today?" She asks, taking off her shoes at the door and walking into our spacious kitchen.

"Yeah. Sit down, we're only missing the soup."

I carry the big pot of seaweed soup onto the table, the ladle inside it swishing around with the soup. She gets started digging in right away, while I take a minute to pray before I start eating myself.

It is a lot better to fight on a full stomach. We have learned from plenty of experiences.


	3. Weapons Free

I didn't expect Hae Eun to have made dinner for us already. Usually, whenever I go off to the gym to work out, I'd come back home to find her on her computer or doing something. I suppose today's an unusual day.

As usual, dinner is fucking _excellennnnnnttttt_. I don't know how she does it! She makes everything and anything she cooks taste so, damn, good! So I ask her.

"Hae Eun, are you, like, using magic to make the food taste better?"

She looks at me like she's asking me if I'm semi-retarded.

"We magical girls typically do not use our magic for mere cooking purposes. Kyuubey, is that even possible?"

That damned furball hops up onto the table. "I never really saw any other Magical Girl try it before. I cannot say as to whether it is true or not."

"So you do not know."

"Basically."

Well, that just gave Hae Eun an idea. Hopefully it works out. I wonder what'll happen if it fails. Hopefully the house won't blow the fuck up.

"Then, if you're not using magic, how do you make everything you cook so freakin' good?" I repeat.

Hae Eun doesn't answer for a moment. Then,

"...I didn't even try today...I knew you were coming back soon, so I just made something quick so that you would have something to eat when you came home..."

That kind of pisses me off.

"Goddamn it, Hae Eun! I try so damn hard to make my shit taste good, and only recently did I actually make good progress! That doesn't make me feel any better, y'know..."

She kinda droops her head. "...sorry..."

See, here's the thing 'bout this girl. Outside, when we're at school or just hangin' out or whatever, she rarely shows any kind of emotion. She'll give like a smile or scowl or two, but unless something really tips her off, she'll be havin' that same ol' stone-cold face of hers. But whenever we're together alone, she loosens up so much it ain't even funny. You'd actually think she was a completely different person just going off her behavior alone. Like, say we had this conversation at school, right? She wouldn't've hung her head like that. She'd've been all like, "...oh, okay, sorry" and moved on.

When she's alone with me, it's so easy to read Hae Eun's emotions.

"Er...well, no, I didn't want you to apologize, it's just...I wanna know how you do it."

"...hm? Do what?"

"Make food so good."

"...I don't know. I'm not trying to lie to you, either. It is just...I suppose some people are just better at it than others."

"...so basically, you're saying you're better at cooking than I am."

"How else should I have said it? You know I do not like sugarcoating things, even if it's you I'm talking to."

I can't help but laugh. Honestly, sometimes I find it really fuckin' hard to believe that the girl sitting across the table from me was the one who gave me a reason to keep living at a time when I had thought I lost it.

In other words, Hae Eun is adorable.

"Nah, forget it. I know I'll probably never get to cook as well as you do in our lives. I'm fine just playin' catch-up."

She looks a little concerned, the type concern people have when they're unintentionally insulting someone and they know it.

"I-Is that okay?"

"Hey, if playing catch-up means I'm still a better cook than anyone at our school, then I'm completely dead-ass fine with it."

We finish up dinner since there's supposed to be another witch out tonight.

I ask Hae Eun, "Hey, do you want me to wash dishes now, or later when we come back?"

"Well, if you want to do dishes tonight, I do not mind if you wash them whenever, but are you sure? You did them yesterday..."

"You made dinner tonight, so I have to repay that somehow."

"That...that isn't something you _need_ to owe me for."

"But I want to, isn't that good enough of a reason? Fine, I'll wash 'em when we go smack that witch a little bit 'n come back."

We head out. It's still a little light out, but it's gonna get dark real fast.

"We should change now," Hae Eun says. "The witch shouldn't be that far away if you run."

"The usual, then?" I ask, and she nods.

We change into our Magical Girl clothes. I've got on a plain black armless lace-up vest with a popped collar and plain white necktie, wrist-to-upper arm arm warmers (right one orange, left one blue), belt, Soul Gem that's inside the middle of the belt, loose white pants, front-lace combat boots. It's not...I guess, "magical", but I was never into the whole fantasy magical girl fluffiness kinda thing anyway.

Hae Eun is dressed in a white fedora with black bowtie, black corset, red short-sleeve shirt, long necktie with a yin-yang emblem at the bottom, black and gold fingerless gloves studded with a triangular formation of three diamonds on the back, magenta thigh-length skirt with black crosses along the bottom, pantyhose, and combat boots like me. It seems a little more "Magical Girl"-esque, but why she has that fedora is something I won't ever understand.

"So where to now?" I ask her, smoothing out some creases in my arm warmers. Thank God for these.

"It should be a five minute run from here," Hae Eun says. "South."

"But I thought Kyuubey said it was gonna be the next town over?"

"Either his calculation was faulty, or the witch is a paranormal one."

"I'm gonna say the first one."

"No, this witch will be tough. If it can disguise its position like that, then chances are killing it will take more effort than usual."

And she pops an MR-28 marksman rifle with Full Metal Jacket rounds and a telescopic scope of some kind. I have her sit on my left arm, and I run off with her and Kyuubey in tow into the dark.

* * *

Baek Hae Eun, American name Jeannie.

To say the least, her powers are too ridiculous to comprehend. Logically speaking, there isn't a reason in the whole entire goddamn world that should explain why Hae Eun's capable of what she can do.

She says her power is to "transplant reality" for a defined period of time. I didn't know what she meant by it until she popped a fuckin' machine gun in her hands.

After watching her fight for a good year or so or however long it's been since we started living together, she means this: her ability allows her to project whatever she imagines in her mind and make it a reality. I dunno how many laws of the fucking planet she's breaking in order to do that, but she can. You know how I explained her military background and all? Yeah, that sure as fuck comes in handy, doesn't it?

But like I said, she can "transplant reality". So what does that mean? She isn't limited to just guns. She literally can make anything. She literally can _do_ anything. If she wants to fly to Everest, the two Poles, talk to the Pope, shake hands with the English Royalty, and come back in time for dinner, guess what? All she needs to do is land an Osprey and she can go wherever. Oh, she doesn't feel like shooting bitches up today? Guess what, she's got knives in her hands and stabbing bitches instead.

'Course, everything and anything she produces isn't permanent. That'd mean America would've solved all its military problems by now 'cause all they need to do is have Hae Eun drop missiles everywhere. Oh wait...

The only problem is that it seems she's only limited to actual physical, tangible objects. At least, that's all I've ever seen her do. Usually she never uses her powers outside of witch hunting. I've never seen her, like, change her surroundings or something. It's always like an object. I mean, going off my own description of her, you'd think that she'd be able to do a lot more than just, y'know, summon guns or shit. But I guess she can't do that. At least, she's never tried in front of me.

Did I say that was a problem? My bad. Because it's not really a problem. At least, not to me. If you can make a B-52 Stratofortress with full payloads to annihilate whatever the fuck it is that's giving you a hard time, that's definitely not a _problem_.

Her wish, which was to regain her eyesight, also granted her some trippy-ass thing she likes to call True Strike. I think this is one of the reasons why she thought it was a good idea for us to start fighting together. What happens is I'll go in and fight a witch, right? I'll distract her for a few minutes. While I'm doing that, Hae Eun'll be somewhere further away but still close enough to see her target pretty clearly. She'll come in and one-shot whatever it is that she targets. She's used knives, she's used sniper rifles, anything that can make a decently sized hole in whatever she wants to kill.

Oh, I almost forgot. Whenever she changes into Magical Girl form, her monocle's magically removed, and she gets it back when she goes back to normal. Her eyes, though - those black eyes of hers turn completely white. Like, literally, she has no pupils. Instead, there're four green little arc thingies kinda rotating or revolving or whatever the hell they're doing around a central little red plus sign thingy for each of her eyes.

Sorta like a sniper rifle scope, I guess. I suppose those weird eyes're what makes Hae Eun capable of such overpowered shit.

But as with any good balancing feature of anything, it's not like she gets away scot-free with her powers. You know that white hair of hers, since she's an albino? Every time she uses her powers, her white hair starts bleeding. I shit you not, her hair LITERALLY STARTS BLEEDING. It fills up with blood from bottom up, so it'll just drip blood all the while we're fighting. I was initially freaked out by that when I first found out, but she told me it doesn't actually hurt her, that it's...I guess, a different kind of...blood? I really don't know, I'm just sayin' what she told me. And it doesn't seem like it's _that_ big of a deal.

When I asked her what happens if _all _of her white hair turns into blood, she didn't look at me. She said she never got to that point.

So when I asked her if she could guess as to what'll happen, she just kinda shrugged at me and said,

"Maybe I'll die? Or maybe something worse."

Wait, what's worse than death?

* * *

We reach the witch's portal pretty quickly. Our home's basically smack-dab in the middle of a sprawling forest, so it's really easy for me to tree-jump everything around here. We find ourselves at an elementary school that's kinda close by our house, so I guess whoever said the witch wasn't too far away was right.

Hae Eun hops off my shoulder, and she approaches the warp gate with Kyuubey.

"The witch is still maturing, but she is strong enough to already be producing familiars," Kyuubey informs. "It should be easy, though, since the witch hasn't actually developed yet."

Hae Eun nods, and she creates a magazine of 7.62x54mm rounds for her gun and smacks it in place, chambering the first round.

"There'll be enemies waiting for us as soon as we hop in. Her familiars are a lot stronger than the norm," she says.

"Well well, what a damn surprise, I guess I'll actually have to do something this time," I say in an overly sarcastic voice, summoning Annie into my hands. Annie is the name of my primary weapon, a double-ended halberd that's normally way too big for anyone under seven feet tall to use. "C'mon, Annie. Time to hunt again."

Annie howls as that demonic head of hers pops up at the blade head. Hae Eun used to call it Predator, because it reminded her of some alien movie. I'm not too big into movies, so I ain't got a clue what she's referencing. I remember when I first figured out how to just use my halberd, Annie popped up and just roared in my face. I just about pissed my panties that day, but she's like a pet to me now. Which is ironic, because I don't like the idea of keeping pets. I'm so bad with cats and dogs, oh God...

We hop in through the portal. God, here come the acid trips.

Little puffballs with sunflower petals for heads? Jesus Christ, this'll be good. And there's crowds of 'em, dancin' everywhere.

"You sure you're gonna shoot 'em all?" I ask Hae Eun, who looks around and sweeps the area with her gun but doesn't actually shoot anything. Yet.

"...I was going to, but obviously there are too many," she replies back to me. "Much rather have a light machine gun for everything."

"So are you gonna keep your rifle, or replace it with a machine gun?"

This girl fucking makes a strap for her MR-28, holsters it over her shoulder so it won't fall off, and makes an M60-E4.

"Why not keep both?"

Lemme tell y'all right now: this girl has the most simplistic logic sometimes. This is a perfect example.

We spend a good five minutes goosesteppin' down this real bright green road that leads off into God knows where. If you can imagine me walking in front of Hae Eun with my halberd over my shoulders, slappin' away at those sunflower things if they come close, and Kyuubey sits on Hae Eun's fedora as she walks backwards behind me, blasting away with her M60-E4 machine gun. Every so often I'll hear the metal clanks of her changin' the belt magazines.

I'm not even gonna mention the constant flood of empty bullet casings smacking the ground all over. Honestly, it's fuckin' comical.

We reach this huge door, like one of the ones you'd see in like a medieval castle or something. By that time, Hae Eun's already shot everything that was moving that wasn't me, her, or Kyuubey.

"It seems like this will be a series of these kinds of doors," Kyuubey mentions. "Given your powers, they shouldn't be that hard to open."

Hae Eun lifts her right hand up, and I know what that means. "Wait, wait, Hae Eun, lemme -"

She forms an RPG-7.

"- ...open this for you..."

She looks at me all serious. "...you don't want me to open it for you?"

"...er, it's not that, it's just you didn't have to make a rocket launcher..."

She lowers it. "Then can you open this?"

"I can try, right?" I rotate Annie, and the bottom blade spikes up and roars like a chainsaw. "Stay back, the sparks'll hurt ya."

I smash my chainsaw blade against the door. To my surprise, I feel the buzzteeth ripping right through, so I apply more pressure until I feel the blade poke through the other end. I pull down and yank out Annie, and I put my foot through it to make a hole big enough to slip through.

"Is that not a little bit too small for you to fit through?" Hae Eun asks, looking at it with some concern.

"Er...yeah, I guess, but it's -" I swing Annie, topside, at the hole I've made and bat it until I punch a bigger hole through. "- but it's nothing to worry about. Toss me your RPG, I'll carry it through."

Hae Eun throws me the rocket launcher, and I slide it through and duck under. Hae Eun ducks under too, and Kyuubey strolls through like he owns the fucking place.

"Well, this's different," I remark. The room before, we were trippin' some kinda black-and-white, real retro acid. Here, we're trippin' acid that makes us hallucinate like we're standing on water, stuck in the middle of some retarded ocean that doesn't even have clear blue water. Why? The entire goddamn sky is neon pink.

What kind of a dumbass sky is neon pink, holy fucking crap. Don't do drugs, kids.

"Antonia, look," Hae Eun points dead ahead of us, and I realize there're like four whirlpools chillin' in the water. "I think we need to go into those."

I look around for anything else that we might be able to see from here. "Guess so. C'mon, I gotta analyze them first."

We hurry over to the whirlpools but stay far away enough so that we don't have to worry about the currents dragging us in. Mind you, Hae Eun's still lugging that rocket launcher around.

"Gimme a minute," I tell her. After Hae Eun picked me up and had me live with her so we could fight together, I've been on my grind, training myself and practicing my fighting styles. But another thing I found myself doing was just sensing shit, having that sixth sense people talk about of just knowing when things will happen or what things are. Every day, no matter what I did, I honed my sixth sense with anything from guessing lottery numbers at my school contests, you know, the ones where they have you guess like the correct amount of jelly beans in a jar or whatever, to just knowing when the teacher'll get back from the bathroom. So now, it's second nature to me.

I look at the whirlpools. "It's the second from left. We can just jump right in."

"Get back," Hae Eun warns me.

"Uhhh, why, what're you gonna do-"

I don't even get to finish my sentence when Hae Eun raises her RPG-7 and pulls the trigger. The rocket splashes into the water, and as I instinctively leap out of the way so I don't get caught in the explosion, I see the rocket swirl around with the strong current and detonate. We're all showered in seawater, but the whirlpool stays, thankfully.

"What the - Hae Eun, bloody fuck, the hell was that for? !"

"I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a trap," she says real calm and cool as she makes another RPG rocket and inserts it back into the tube.

"Trap my ass! I said I'd scan it for anything, and you just up 'n blow up the thing!"

"Hm, that so. You can go first."

You didn't see that, did you? Those're all the flying fucks she doesn't give.

I sigh and slide into the whirlpool. I hold my breath, but as soon as I enter the water, I feel that it's not ordinary water, and I find myself being able to see and somehow breathe underwater. This is real trippy.

But then again, all witch hunts are. I keep telling myself, I should be used to this by now, but I don't think I ever will.

Hae Eun comes, uh, I guess, _falling down_ the water after me, for lack of a better phrase, her RPG-7 in over one shoulder and that tuft of fuck cradled under her other arm that's got her marksman rifle slung over. Now, we get to deal with these piranha-like thingies that swim around us like schools of anchovies or whatever.

"They'll attack you soon if you don't -" Kyuubey starts to warn, but Hae Eun is like three steps ahead of him already. She kicks a pack of C4 off into the water around us.

"Antonia, hit it as far away from us as you can!" she yells to me over the noise of the water currents, and I bat it away like I'm hitting a home run or something. The schools of piranhas go chase after it like I'm throwing a tennis ball from a dog.

Did I mention that those piranhas look like they've got mushrooms growing from their heads? Like I said, trippy shit.

I can feel the water currents starting to slow as a very muffled explosion rocks the water around us. Then, I feel my feet touch solid ground and walk out of that weird water. Looking behind me, it's a waterfall we just rode down, and now we're standing on a super-flat platform surrounded by nothing.

Final Destination much?

Hae Eun and I walk towards the center. I'm more surprised that our clothes aren't even wet, I was expecting that at the very least.

"Where is the witch?" Hae Eun asks. "Usually a location such as this is indicative of a witch's presence nearby. I don't feel any."

"Maybe Antonia knows?" Kyuubey suggests.

"Shut it, damn rodent," I bark back. "The witch'll come out soon, we'll be fighting it here. Just a matter of finding the bitch."

But for like five minutes, we wait, standing there for something to happen, but nothing does.

"This is very strange. I can definitely assure you that a witch is indeed here, but it is refusing to how itself for some reason..." Kyuubey ponders. "Maybe this isn't where you're supposed to fight it?"

"No, this is the correct place," Hae Eun says definitively. "There is no return route until we defeat the witch."

"So why isn't it attackin' us?" I wonder aloud. By this point, I'm just getting plain annoyed.

"In a situation like this, wouldn't _you_ be the one to know?" that rodent says. He knows about my unnaturally strong sixth sense, and I'm not comfortable with that at all.

"And in a situation like this, _you__'d_ be the one to shut the fuck up," I sneer back. God, I hate that thing.

Kyuubey just shakes his head. "I really don't understand your profanity, but that is besides the point."

Hae Eun decides to take matters into her own hands, shoulders her rocket launcher, and unholsters her rifle. She holds it with one arm, points the muzzle up, and starts poppin' shots. I can hear the loud reports echo back all around the platform. Makes me feel like I'm in some Catholic cathedral. Apparently this place _is _enclosed somehow.

"Hmm..." Hae Eun is genuinely puzzled as her thumb instinctively pushes the magazine release, and the spent magazine drops to the ground and evaporates into remnants of white magic energy. Oh, by the way, the bullet casings disappear, too.

"Okay, this's really weird now. Usually if you do that, the witches come marchin' out, don't they?" I ask Hae Eun, and she nods back at me.

"Normally, yes. Not this one, however...either she is cunning and waiting for some opportune moment, or she is simply stalling..."

Then, I hear Kyuubey call out. "The waterfall! Look at the waterfall!"

We turn urgently at the waterfall that we rode down, and it's thinning at a really alarming rate. In fact, it thins so fast that we can't even take more than a few steps before it disappears into a trickle of that weird, physically impossible water.

I run over to the edge of the platform where we first touched down and look down below the platform we're standing on. It's too dark to see anything, but I feel like there's a really big body of water somewhere down there. I wanna know how big that body of water is.

"Hae Eun, c'mere!" She hurries over. "Is there a way for you to light up what's below this platform?"

She nods, grabs the foregrip on the gun to make it disappear, and replaces it with an undermounted grenade launcher. She takes aim, as straight down as she can, and pops off the shot. A white flare sails down into the abyss below, illuminating a little bit of the place. What I see scares the shit outta me for a brief second.

"Uh, hey, y'all see what I see?" I ask the other two, and they confirm.

That's not water down there. In fact, that waterfall wasn't made of water at all.

That's fuckin' alcohol.

And how do we know this? There's thousands of bottles 'n cans of beer, whiskey, vodka, whatever the fuck kinda alcohol exist on this planet, just floating in the huge pool below. Maybe millions, I dunno.

But that's not what spooks me. What's creepin' me out is the fact that all of a sudden, my hands feel like they've been dipped in goddamn rubbing alcohol as I'm holding onto the edge of the platform we're on.

That's when it hits me.

"Wait...hold on!"

Hae Eun turns to me really urgently. She knows I'm about to spill somethin' real important. "What is it?"

"The witch...she..."

"Yeah?"

I sense something staring at us from behind.

"This platform _is_ the fuckin' witch! We're standing on it!"

We whip around at the same time, weapons at the ready, and we stare right into the face of the witch.

The first thing I think is the one I always say.

"_Damn_, she's ugly!"


	4. You Say Pride, I Say Will

The witch before us reeks of alcohol. I can already tell this magical girl, whoever she was, had succumbed to the perils of alcohol long, long ago. This was a witch that could have just as easily hatched much sooner as it would have hatched later. It just needed a disturbance once it matured enough.

"I have never seen this kind of witch before," Kyuubey says. "What an interesting development!"

"Be more useful to us than blabbin' on witcher usual bullshit 'n get eaten, fuckface!" Antonia shrilly yells, and before Kyuubey can react, she punts him with her left foot right at the witch's huge head protruding down from the far, far ceiling above. I can hear him call "I don't understand at all!" as his body disappears in the cavity of the witch's mouth.

"That was not necessary, Antonia. Kyuubey may know a thing or two about this witch, as we have had no prior knowledge of its kind before," I reprimand Antonia lightly.

"And I say that's bullshit. Kyuubey said himself he ain't got a clue 'bout this one, and it ain't like he's just gonna 'magically' know, eh?"

The sarcasm is strong with that one.

I look away from Antonia. One of the problems I do have is the fact that sometimes, I do rely on and trust Kyuubey's judgment and analysis a bit too much. It has never gotten me in serious danger, but as much as I do not mind Kyuubey or his intentions, Antonia does have a point in insisting that I do not listen to him _all _the time.

Cornelia Bacchi. What a fitting name.

I quickly reload another magazine into my MR-28 marksman rifle. By the looks of this one, I'll need the high-caliber rounds that the MR-28 provides, but this telescopic sight won't do. Also, I'd better get another grenade in my undermounted launcher, but I need time. I glance at the witch in her entirety, and she has a main head connected to a long, thin neck that stretches down from the ceiling that we cannot see. It has no hands or limbs as far as I can see.

"Antonia!" I shout out. "Can you buy me some time?"

"Yeah sure, why?"

I spy the witch's head, shaped like a Roman amphora, rise slightly. She is going to attack soon.

"I want you to distract her as much as you can! I'll set an explosive underneath her that'll destroy her in one hit!"

"Explosive?! What, you mean like tannerite that you used last time?!"

The witch starts spitting out glass bottles at us, and some of them are filled with highly flammable alcohol. Antonia and I split up to dodge the bottles, and the ground is even more soaked with alcohol. It is getting much harder to navigate this platform now, even with combat boots.

"No, not tannerite! It'll be military-grade!"

"But why a ground-based explosive? It won't even reach her, she's too high up!"

"You'll see!"

Antonia stares at me confused, but then she nods.

"I getcha! How long?"

I see the witch rearing up for another attack. "...six minutes!"

"Goddamn it, Hae Eun, you're gonna kill me one day having me buy you fuckin' time!"

But she jumps up anyway, swinging around Annie the Halberd to get Cornelia the witch's attention. As she's off doing that, I get to work.

Push forward the barrel of the M-203 undermounted grenade launcher, shake out the spent flare casing, insert another 40mm M-203 HE round, and snap the barrel shut.

Remove the 4x telescopic sight and replace it with a flip-up red dot sight.

After finishing these modifications, I take to one knee and set my sights on the witch's amphora head. I pull the trigger four times, and all four bullets hit -

- but nothing happens. They simply bounce off the amphora casing. Clearly it is made of something other than what the Romans used to make them.

Cornelia begins to turn to me after I fired those shots, but Antonia does a good job of distracting her well enough, bouncing all around Cornelia's head and whacking it all over with her halberd. I readjust my aim, and I fire another four shots above the amphora head at the neck-like structure supporting the head from the invisible ceiling from above. Still, nothing.

But this time, Cornelia seems to deem me the higher target priority and ignores Antonia's constant harassment. Instead of opening her mouth to spit out more of those bottles, I spot out of the corners of my eyes two small waves of clear, white liquid that are rising to smash into one another, and I tumble forward to dodge it in time. I roll back to the one-knee stance and put suppressive fire onto Cornelia. The witch keeps spitting out bottles at me, and I break stance and fire as I strafe left until my gun clacks empty around the same time that Antonia touches down onto the platform again. The witch screams again, and we hear hundreds of small splashes from far underneath us.

"Antonia! Get to the center! Now!"

Right as we start dashing for the center, we see those hundreds of splashes turn into hundreds of bottles, glasses, and whatever else kind of containers that are typically used to hold alcoholic beverages. Antonia and I both slide as soon as those bottles begin flying towards us, and right as our boots smack into each other to stop our slides, I create a shell of an IAV Stryker tank that plops down right over us to shield us from the incoming projectiles.

"Whew, damn that was close," Antonia breathes a sigh of relief that is quickly drowned out by the patter of aluminum cans, breaking glass, and other such materials. "Thank God for your unbelievably ridiculous power, Hae Eun."

"It is not all-powerful," I tell her, stretching my hand that I used to call down the Stryker. I made it so that it has no interior. "Besides that, the witch is directly above us now, no?"

"Uh, yeah, she should be. Her head was right above the center of this platform, 'n you told us to get to the middle."

"Okay, then this is what I will do." I crawl to the middle of the tank and put my hands together, palms down. "I will make a pile of explosives here. They will fire upwards to hit the witch from below. Hopefully this will punch a hole through the bottom."

"And what 'bout me?"

"Go to the edge of the platform and wait for effects. If -"

"Fuck that shit!"

Her yell stops me dead.

"You're tellin' me that yer gonna take a hit from the collateral damage from blastin' off explosives! ? And what kinda explosives, tannerite? !"

"No, not tannerite. ARGES mines."

"And how many?"

"Ten."

As soon as I say the number, ten ARGES mine systems flash into view.

"Goddamn it - look, Hae Eun, I'm tellin' ya, don't do th-"

"Antonia!"

This time, she shuts up.

"Antonia, please. Do as I say. If you stay here with me, because you are a lot taller than I, you'll be much more likely to get hurt from the collateral."

Do not get me wrong. I hold Antonia very close to my heart, she being my close friend and housemate and all. I understand that she is only trying to act out of best intentions for me, and I feel a tug at my heart whenever I make a decision like this. I empathize with Antonia's desire to keep me safe, her willingness to get hurt in my stead so that I myself do not take any damage. But at the same time, I wish to teach her the value of trust. Coming from a military background, coming from a lifetime's worth of work that more often than not, given my young age, relied on cooperation and sheer trust that my allies would complete their respective assignments successfully, I learned that trust is very often the one factor that makes or breaks a plan of action, especially those that involve a considerable degree of risk. I know that Antonia possibly cares for me than just a best friend would, but she needs to learn to trust me not only as a friend, but also as a comrade and her ally in combat.

Antonia starts to open her mouth to protest, but I glare at her. She finally relents.

"Fine, fine, fuckin' damn it. Just don't get hurt, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll try not to. Now go!"

The Stryker dissipates, and Antonia bolts for the edge of the platform, sliding once again. I get out a remote detonator and push the big red button like they always do in the movies as I start running as well.

The ARGES mines burst, sending ten missiles upwards to the underside of the amphora head. A few of the missiles punch a messy hole through the bottom, and the rest of the warheads bounce off one another and explode all about the interior, causing the witch's head to form dangerous cracks and splits. However, some of the amphora pieces and mine shrapnel come showering down right on top of me, and one of the amphora pieces gets a cut on my left tibialis anterior. I cry out in surprise and lose balance, but I break my fall and slide away on the slippery platform.

"Hae Eun!" I hear Antonia react sharply to my scream of pain, but once I slide to a stop, I wave at her that I'm still okay. The cut is not deep enough to cause nerve or tendon damage, only a bit of bleeding.

"Hae Eun, put some of the shit on it! It'll hurt, but it'll help!" Oh right, I forgot that we're virtually standing on a thin but tangible film of alcohol. I take a deep breath, grit my teeth, and gasp as I smack my hand against my injury. The searing flame of the alcohol killing the bacteria and whatnot on my cut immolates my entire leg, and it's all I can do to make myself not groan in pain. Antonia can deal with pain very well - she works out everyday when she is not fighting, and I was trained to sustain as little physical harm as possible, making me much more prone to the debilitating effects of pain. But alcohol, at the end of the day, is still a disinfectant, no matter how low the alcohol content. It smells like vodka, so it should do the trick.

In the meantime, while I was treating my injury with a makeshift method, Antonia had split her halberd in half and thrown Annie at the witch, Cornelia. Annie shapeshifts into a lizard-like creature that kind of resembles the Hydralisk from Starcraft Brood War. It digs its scythes into the sides of the already-cracked amphora, and it bashes its bladed head against it as well. Antonia also jumps up again and lodges her chainsaw blade into a crack on the surface, and the chainsaw teeth rev up and chip away. As Cornelia is occupied with trying to get Antonia off with waves upon waves of more alcohol and bottles and whatnot, I close my eyes to stabilize my breathing.

My hands know the meaning of this. Reflexively, they stretch out, and another rifle drops into my hands.

Accuracy International AS-50.

I open my eyes again and gaze my eyes upon the witch.

Not the head.

But the neck.

I stare at it for ninety seconds.

.50 BMG caliber, reduces the time necessary to execute.

Estimated distance, 80 meters.

I raise my sniper rifle and use my right knee as an elbow rest. The sniper scope settles over my target.

I hear Antonia yell out shrilly, "Annie, get off, get off! She's gonna do it!"

I inhale, and the scope freezes exactly where I want it to. I whisper...

"True Strike."

The moment I squeeze the trigger, the only thing I feel is not the recoil of the huge bullet leaving the chamber, not the slippery sensation of the alcohol-lathered platform floor, not the strain and sharp pain of my cut wound.

The only thing I experience is the sensation of joy that washes over me as the .50 caliber bullet sinks into my designated target. It is as if I can experience my victim's pain and suffering.

And to me, it is the most uplifting feeling in the world.

My shot completely severs the head from the neck, and screaming indistinguishably, the amphora head falls to the ground and shatters into an undefinable amount of pieces and shards.

The battle is over. We have won.

The Grief Seed lies in the center of the platform, peering out cautiously out of the rubble of the broken amphora pieces. I relax, sighing as my AS-50 disappears. It would have been an ordinary fight, but my wound is sapping much of my energy. That was sloppy of me, to take an injury like that. I should take care not to do that next time.

"Hae Eun!" Antonia calling out my name snaps me back to focus again, and I open my eyes to see her running over to me, picking up the Grief Seed as she comes to me. "Hehe, you did great today too! Are you okay here?" She takes a good look at my cut on the back of my left leg. "Yeah, it ain't bad. We can just wrap it up, and it'll be gone by tomorrow morning. Here's your prize!"

She offers me the Grief Seed. I lower my head.

"You already know I do not require the Grief Seeds. Why offer them to me all the time?"

"Because you're the one who needs them more."

I cannot deny that.

"...but you could use them to further your own magical capacities. I already have enough. My power is more than enough to take care of everything."

Antonia gives me a scowl. "And yer sayin' that jus' 'cause you never need Grief Seeds?"

"It is more that I cannot. I have already explained this."

"But you've never even once _tried_. At least you can try and see what happens if you use them!"

"I would prefer not to. My own energy is more than enough."

My friend sighs. "And that's exactly why I'm worried. You can't fight forever off your emotions alone, you do realize? In fact, _you're_ the one who taught me that!"

I close my eyes. "Indeed, I was. But that was because you could be saved from such advice. I have no need for such advice, because I am beyond help."

"Yeah, yeah, whateva," she yaps, and she offers me a hand. "C'mon, get up. We need ta get the fuck outta here."

I stare at the hand that is offering to help me up. Before I met Antonia, the idea of assistance was very foreign to me. I usually operated alone, I usually worked alone. Everything I did was usually by myself. Even though I did say that knowing to trust one's allies and teammates was a crucial part of teamwork, my own experiences make me appear a hypocrite. Appa was the only one I trusted before his death. But Antonia revived that sense of trust within me.

I take it, and Antonia helps me up. "You okay? Can you walk?"

I nod and limp awkwardly to the center of the platform. "The exit is above us. We just need to take the waterfall back, if it was still there."

Antonia stops me. "But, like, wasn't this entire platform part of the witch too? Why'd we get her Grief Seed even though we didn't kill every part of 'er?"

"The head and neck of the witch were her vital points."

"I guess...but I'd prefer if we wrecked everything, y'know?"

I nod in agreement. "Brace yourself," I warn, and I raise my arms. The entire platform is now set with breach charges, and I set them all off simultaneously. The successive explosions shatter the platform completely apart, and Antonia and I find ourselves in free fall for a split second before I make an AV-8A Harrier VTOL fighter jet for us to land on. Antonia whistles as the pieces fall into the corrosive alcohol lake below.

"Let's go home," I say.

* * *

I am a special Magical Girl. My power may seem special enough, but that is not why I am a special Magical Girl.

By nature, Magical Girls expend magical energy that sustain their powers and existences as Magical Girls. To restock and resupply on said magical energy, they require the artifacts left behind by witches upon their defeat, called Grief Seeds. The despair and curses and negative emotion that fuel the Grief Seeds is used to replenish lost magical energy in Magical Girls, and they can also be used to cleanse the dirtied Soul Gems of Magical Girls who are losing their wills to fight and exist as Magical Girls. That is why Grief Seeds are coveted, because if one Magical Girl has infinite access to them, then she, theoretically speaking, has infinite power.

I deviate from this norm. The circumstances that surrounded the time of my contract sealing caused my existence as a Magical Girl to break off from the normal line of Magical Girls. The vast majority of Magical Girls, because they are lured by the fantastical nature of the idea of "magical girls" and the temptation of a single, omnipotent wish, usually enter Magical Girlhood with high hopes and high spirits, thus requiring the negative emotions that witches leave behind in the form of Grief Seeds to sustain their magical energy. However, at the time that I first formed my contract, I was vengeful already. Filled with the sadness and anger that I harbored in my heart from Appa's assassination, compounded with the rage and self-hatred I inflicted upon myself for suddenly losing my precious eyesight all from being a cursed albino, I became a Magical Girl who is completely self-sufficient. I regenerate my own magical energy without the help of Grief Seeds. The only limiter that my power is restrained by is my hair, my disgustingly white hair that bleeds depending on the degree of my power usage.

I have yet to see what my exact limit is, though I have a good idea what it is.

I have never seen what happens when I use a Grief Seed. Because of my naturally regenerating energy supply that my own negative emotions produce for me on a daily basis, I naturally never needed them. I usually gave them to Kyuubey, since he had better uses for them than I. My power comes directly from my emotions alone. My body may get tired, yes, but so long as my Soul Gem remains safe, I can fight indefinitely.

I shudder to think what will happen if I call upon the energy of a Grief Seed.

* * *

We reach home. The fight has certainly put me in the mood to go to sleep, even though typically I would stay up for much longer than this. It is only eleven in the evening.

Antonia and I take a bath together. At first, when Antonia and I first started living together, I was very hesitant against the idea of showering together, but eventually I gave in to Antonia's constant requests. Now, I actually look forward to taking baths together. They are extremely relaxing. Antonia bathes my white hair to get the blood off, and I rub Kyuubey's ears affectionately. He came back to us in another Incubator vessel after we emerged from the witch's portal.

Part of the reason is because apparently, according to Kyuubey, if two Magical Girls harbor strong emotions for one another, it creates what he calls a "power resonance", a phenomenon that greatly increases attack performance and constitution. Although Kyuubey's kind is incapable of comprehending human emotion, at least he understands that it is an ingrained part of human nature, and that it has, as far as Magical Girls are concerned, a concrete use. Naturally, it came as a huge surprise to him when he first sensed such resonances between us.

Admittedly, this does mean that Antonia and I share more than just a best-friends-for-life relationship. It goes a little beyond that, but not too much. I do not remember when exactly we started regarding one another as more than just friends and comrades. And even more strangely, I am fine with this. I suppose I have come to appreciate Antonia's power and assistance too much to view her as a mere comrade in battle.

But I think the bigger reason for this is because now, both my mind and heart see her as a sister, a family member. As I have mentioned before, Appa was my only family member before his death. I lived for a few years without anyone to call "family" before I saved Antonia. Looking back, those were the worst years of my life. Even if my childhood was stained with the blood of my actions as Appa's secret operative, I always had Appa to return to at the end of each day, cuddling up with him in his bed and saying "Sa-rang-hae-yo, Appa". Now, in my heart, Antonia has filled the void that the death of Appa left behind. For that reason, I am eternally grateful to her. I do firmly believe that without her, I may have succumbed to witchdom a long time ago, after becoming consumed by my own self-hatred and anguish.

Afterwards, we brush our teeth and get ready for bed. Antonia asks me if she could spend the night with me in my room, and I nod. We jump in bed together, and I turn of the lamp on the desk next to my canopy bed. I snuggle up to Antonia as I did before with Appa, and Antonia just giggles at my childishness.

"What?" I ask her, wondering why she is laughing. "I've always done this."

"Well, no, it's not that, just..."

"Just?"

"Ah, never mind. You're too cute, Hae Eun."

She hugs me back. Her warmth is overwhelming. I feel like she is absorbing the cold from my frozen heart. We lay together like that for a good few minutes in the dark.

"Hae Eun?"

"...yeah, what?"

"...I'm...I ain't trying to start shit here, but..."

"Yeah?"

"Why do you always fight in a way that puts you in the line of fire?"

"...what do you mean?"

"Oh c'mon, Hae Eun, don't gimme that bullshit. You know what I mean; why are _you_ always the one getting hurt?"

My hand reflexively feels the white tape bandage over my cut behind my left leg. I do not say anything.

"Like, seriously. I'd much rather see us take longer to kill a witch than to see you get hurt almost every time we do fight one of those things. How'd you even last without me?"

"...I was a lot more careful."

"Careful? So why aren't you careful now?"

"Because I feel that I can afford to take risks that will get me hurt but will ensure a higher rate of success against the witches."

"Because I'm around?"

I nod. Antonia does not speak for another minute.

"I guess you've depended on me a lot more than I thought."

"Because you're fighting with me, I feel like I can put a lot more effort in my fights. I'm sorry if my way of fighting makes you feel like you can't do much for me, but you help me a lot more than you might think, Antonia. You just being there for me...I can't thank you enough."

It is very unlike me to say words like this. But it's Antonia I'm talking to, so it's okay.

"Geez..." she hugs me harder and plants an affectionate kiss on my forehead. "If you put it that way, how can I even get mad at that...I just don't want to see you getting hurt, either, even if it's just a cut or two."

"I'll try to be more careful."

"You always say that."

"I know."

She just chuckles.


	5. There's a First for Everything

It's the first day of school.

Honestly, I've actually been lookin' forward to it. To me, it's the start of somethin' new. New chances for everything, like friends, getting to know other people, experiences in general. It's kinda partly got to do with my desire for new thrills; I just like goin' out there 'n seeing what the world's got to offer for me.

Hae Eun looks and is the same as ever. Typical Hae Eun.

But it got me thinkin', you know? Change is the law of the world. I've seen things come and go as I've grown up, and I'm not saying this 'cause I wanna sound like a damn ol' geezer. It's just something I've accepted, and it's something everyone needs to accept. But at the same time, we can't always live in a continual state of change, flux, whatever. There always needs to be something that remains unfaltering, rock steady for you to come back to, something that you're always sure, 100%, no matter what, will be there when you look for something that hasn't changed. Kinda like how you need to build a sturdy foundation for a house to make sure a storm doesn't blow it over like the Wolfie in that three little pigs' story 'r whatever.

To me, Hae Eun is that sturdy foundation. I mean, it's not all good, obviously. There're some things that I wish she'd fix, like her tendencies to sleep in class 'cause she's up all night playing games or eroges. I wish she'd be a little bit more outgoing, 'cause I know she can be such a popular girl, only if she actually put in the effort to get along with people. But I know there's probably a better chance of me freezing hell over than her changin' some of her habits. And you know what? That's fine. That's fine if she stays the same in some respects, because that's what makes Hae Eun, Hae Eun. If she wants to change herself, she will, and it's not like she needs me to constantly babysit her for something that I have no control over and shouldn't dictate for her.

Talking like this really does make me feel like her babysitter, no lie.

Lots of things will change. But Hae Eun never will, and I'm glad that that's the case.

I really hope so, anyway.

* * *

We drive up to the parking lot of Narbonne High School. Because today's the first day, it's only a minimum day, which means we get out at twelve. Usually minimum days are just those bullshit days where we go in, say 'sup to the teachers, 'n get the fuck out. Get in, get out, done, boom, let's go fuck around at the mall 'r some shit.

We'd already picked up our schedules for first semester at the orientation 'bout a few weeks before, so we know our class locations 'n whatnot already. We woulda had zero period, but Hae Eun was against it, sayin' that there might be lotsa nights where we'd be out late fighting witches.

That's such a lie. She only says that so she gets an extra hour sleepin' in on her gaming nights.

And she knows it, too. Goddamn, she's such a bitch, but I can't say anything, haha. Not that I want to.

Thankfully, we got first period together, though. World History AP, with a Mr. Frasier person.

As we're walkin' into class, I ask Hae Eun,

"Yo, Hae Eun, you really gonna wear all business style for the rest of high school, too?"

She nods. "Yes. There is no problem with this, no? It is not against the school's dress code, and this is comfortable for me."

I facepalm, shaking my head. "Dang it, Hae Eun, how're ya gonna get all dem boys, eh? I mean, you could _kinda_ get away with this in middle school, but high school's 'bout datin' 'n makin' friends 'n hangin' out! Who the hell'll try ta make friends with you if you keep lookin' like Agent Smith almost everyday?"

"You're the only friend I ever need and ever want," she says, looking straight into my eyes and with that straight, emotionless face of hers. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No, that's not it, but..." Fuck my life. I can't...I just can't. I know she means it with all her heart, but_ fuck_, this girl!

"Then it is settled," she says with a quick smile and strides into the classroom.

Remember how I mentioned all that bullcrap 'bout things never changing? I wish she'd change that one part of her. Just that one.

I follow her inside the classroom. The reaction to our entrance's as expected: our classmates who don't now us stare at us like we're displays at the local freakshow, at Hae Eun since she's wearing fuckin' full formal in her business jacket, navy blue tie, and black skirt and pantyhose, and at me, because I've got flamboyantly outlandish orange-blue gradient hair. The ones who do know us from middle school or whatever, though, wave hi at us, one of whom is Lucy.

"Here, here!" Lucy waves at us, and we take the empty seats next to her and Haley Fabrington, the Haley we met at Staples the other day. "Yaaaay, we've got the super-duper-smart Jeannie here with us, now we'll never, ever have to worry about failing history tests ever again!"

Oh, just so you know, Hae Eun's a history nerd, so whenever we had history tests, we'd all cram with her, and we'd all ace the tests with only one day of studying under our belts. Normally, under normal circumstances, that tactic'd never work, but it's Hae Eun we're talkin' 'bout here. She's a fantastic tutor. Wonder why she doesn't tutor kids as a side job, actually.

"Hey, hey, listen, so I heard from my bro that Mr. Frasier's actually a super chill teacher," Haley gossips, obviously happy at this statement. Haley's never really been good with history, since she finds it downright boring, like the vast majority of high school history students.

"Did he take World History AP, too?" Lucy asks.

"Er, not AP, no. It wasn't a class yet when he was a freshman, remember? It became a real class like last year."

"So how does he know Mr. Frasier's a chill teacher?"

By the way, this Mr. Frasier in question hasn't arrived in the classroom yet.

"He had him for World History Honors and EHAP."

"Wait, what's EHAP again?" I ask, feeling slightly dumb for asking.

"European History AP," Hae Eun responds swiftly, getting out her notebook and preparing to take notes. Why, oh why are you even _thinking_ about taking notes? ! On the first day of school, _on a minimum day? ! ! ?_

"Oh, so he must teach EHAP, then, too, huh?"

"He teaches Block," Lucy says. "You know, the Block schedule that kinda ties EHAP and English 2 Honors together?"

"Yeesh, high school scheduling seems like a bitch," I remark.

"Oh, yeah, tell me 'bout it," Haley rolls her eyes. "I had such a hard time gettin' the teachers I wanted, goin' off what my bro told me. I mean, like, obviously I'm not gonna get all the teachers I want, but I thought at least it'd be pretty easy to get at least half my classes with the good ones..."

"But I heard they said you couldn't really pick your teachers starting this year," I comment. "How'd you even manage to, like, pick your own teachers?"

"Oh, y'know, I just bullshitted the counseling office, sayin' that my schedule conflicted with my tennis schedule and whatnot," Haley laughs. "I'll tell you, it wasn't really easy, but I managed to pull it off. So at least this semester ought ta be a breeze for me, haha!"

We all laugh together, and Hae Eun smiles.

Before Hae Eun and I hooked up, I never once saw her smile. Like, ever. Never, never, never. Her two emotions were sad and angry, that was it. But once she accepted me as her friend and partner in crime, it was like she was learning how to smile for the first time.

You know, I feel really damn special for being the one who's responsible for that. Just something both in the back of my mind and in my heart that lets me feel a little bit warmer inside, knowing that I was able to make Hae Eun smile again.

"Heeeeeeyyy, what's up?" Two boys crash into chairs beside Haley's and Lucy's chairs and drag them over our way, plopping their backpacks down on the floor next to them. "Y'all ready for freshman year? Damn, this's neat, I'm lovin' this shit already!"

Matty Oschman and Jonah Fittsworth. Two boys from our middle school who're really cool guys, actually, so we hang out a lot. Some of their other friends, though, are a bit questionable, but that's their problem, not ours. Not mine, either.

"Hey, I know right? You're not comin' to class with a missing homework assignment!" I yell with bluffed and fake enthusiasm, and everyone laughs. Matty was absolutely friggin' notorious in middle school for never, ever doing his homework 'cause he's so damn lazy, but he passes all his classes anyway because he aces all the tests.

"'Ey, 'ey, look, if I wanted to do homework, trust me, I'd do it, no lie. But I've just got so many other things to do, y'know~?" Matty coos with sarcasm.

"Like sleeping in and being a slob?" Hae Eun replies, making everyone laugh again.

"Oh fuck no! I gotta have Jeannie, the queen of the sleepers, callin' me out on this shit? Awwww, hell nooooooo!" Matty grabs himself like he's been shot. "The pain, the irony, ugh, it - it's - it's too much - agh, save me - "

"Hey, anyone see the textbook we got?" Jonah changes the subject as Matty pretends to fall out of his seat, and he slams a friggin' 700 page textbook on his desk. "Dude, no lie, I'ma be so damn heated if they really expect us to read this entire thing."

We gawk at the thick textbook, except for Hae Eun, obviously. "What the heck? Aw, you've got to be kidding!" Lucy exclaims. She hates reading textbooks. "Man, this sucks already, haha..."

"Yo, but seriously though, real talk, you wanna know what really sucks?" Matty leans into our makeshift circle of desks, and we all lean in together, except Hae Eun. "Look over at the corner of the room. Tell me who you see, c'mon, tell me."

We glance over to the corner that Matty nods at, and we immediately know what he's trying to imply. A single, solitary freshman guy, kinda thin, blonde hair, looking like your typical shut-in who watches anime 'n plays video games all day and has no social life, sits by himself in the desk all the way back against the far wall.

Oh wait, Hae Eun could've fit that easily. Whoops.

"Hot damn, let me find out. Lemme find out that fuckin' _Samson McGruder_'s gotta be in the same class," Jonah hisses. "Not that I have anything against him, but damn, he says the weirdest shit ever sometimes."

"But he's been kinda quiet for, I dunno, like the past year, hasn't he?" Haley whispers.

"Come ta think of it, yeah, he has," I say. "Remember when he used to be _really_ fuckin' weird?"

Not that I should be talking.

"When he'd run 'round thinking he was a ninja or whatever?" Lucy shudders. "Ugh, I still remember that. We thought it was all funny. I just thought it was creepy, 'cause he'd be looking in girls' bathrooms back in middle school. Ew, ew..."

"Oh shit, he's lookin' at us! Oh, fuck, fuck!" Matty hisses again, an embarrassed grin on his face. "Think he knows we're talkin' smack 'bout him."

Let me explain. Samson McGruder was a weirdo in middle school, but like I mentioned, he kinda tapered off once eighth grade rolled around. Hae Eun said it was because he had what the Japanese call "chuunibyou". Apparently, it's like a condition where kids think they're all high 'n mighty with super powers they ain't got.

If only Samson knew about the existence of Magical Girls. Too bad he's a guy.

So that just, like, totally ruined his rep for the rest of middle school. I mean, I think Hae Eun would agree with me on this one, but I wasn't like the rest of my middle school where I completely either hated him or avoided him completely. I knew where he was coming from, especially because I'm capable of the ridiculous powers he thought he'd had. I guess you could say it was more pity that I felt for him, that he was desperately trying to make himself believe that he had the powers that actually did exist but he could never gain just because he was a boy. I suppose that's messed up, in a sense, since I don't know if there ever can be "Magical Boys". Never heard of 'em, but hey, anything's possible, I suppose. Actually, I'll go ask that retarded fuckin' furball back home 'bout that.

But after his "chuunibyou" stage had passed, he became quiet, awfully quiet. I heard some things happened, like, the things that aren't the things you'd want to have happen in your life, so I suspect those had something to do with it. But by that time, the damage was done, like I said. He was basically a loner for his entire eighth grade year. It's kinda sad, really. The reason why Hae Eun and I kept an eye on him so closely was because we thought he'd show signs of having become a witch's familiar when we weren't looking, but oddly enough, that never happened. Which is weird, seeing that most people like him woulda already fallen into the bottomless pit of despair and sorrow by this point and become easy prey for witches out there.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not like obsessed over him or anything. But I just kinda feel bad for him that he can't live a normal high school life anymore because of what he'd done in middle school that might've not necessarily been his own fault. Yeah, sure, you can do and say stupid things, we all do that at one point or another. But I just don't think you ought to have your _entire social life _burned at the stake just because you seemed a little off. All his antics aside, it's not like he was a _bad_ person, per se.

Mr. Frasier walks into the room just then, and we straighten out our desks.

* * *

Passing period. For minimum days, apparently, between third and fourth period, there's a ten minute passing break, instead of the usual six. I'm sitting in my ceramics class with Jonah from first period, sitting on some flaky stools inhaling the oddly comforting smell of warm and wet clay that's filling the room. It's like the kind of smell that makes you feel like the place hasn't been properly cleaned in, like, a century, but at the same time one of those smells where if it wasn't there, you'd wonder if the room was even being used properly.

"Yo, so, you heard, haven't ya?" Jonah asks me as we watch our classmates pile in. Some give me interested looks as they realize the wild colors that my long hair displays.

"Heard what?" I ask.

"Dude, you 'n Jeannie are the talk of the whole motherfuckin' school, I swear. Everywhere I go, I always hear at least a couple people talking, 'hey, you see those two girls?' and shit like that."

I rub my nose, which is still trying to get used to that musty clay smell in the room. "Really? I wasn't aware that we were famous already. It ain't like we weren't like this last year, either."

"Well, yeah, that was one thing, but this is high school. You 'n Jeannie even got the juniors 'n seniors talking, girl!" he exclaims. "They might be making moves on you two for prom or Homecoming, seriously!"

"Wait, so like, am I supposed to care, or no?"

"_Supposed_ to care? Damn, girl, you're lost! You know how many upperclassmen girls would _kill_ to go out with some of the guys? Maybe you'd better talk with Haley 'r Lucy for that kinda stuff. I'm just out here tryin' ta get a hookup for prom too, y'know."

"Prom isn't for like another few months. Think we can think about that shit when it's actually around the corner." I only say this since I was never really interested in going to dances or whatnot.

"Oh man, you really are lost. You got no idea how much some people here prepare just for Homecoming, and for prom?" He whistles. "It's gonna be a bloodbath for who gets the hottest girls 'n guys."

"So like, this is serious business."

"Yer damn right prom's serious business. I mean, hell, I personally think it's obviously a little too exaggerated, y'know? But it is what it is. Can't fight the status quo; besides, it's hella fun just to sit back and watch people hookin' up 'r whatever."

"That honestly sounds like what I'd do."

"Yeah, but you say that now. Wait 'til one of the juniors or seniors comes waltzin' up to ya, askin' ya out."

"Then I'd just say no. I'd rather get to know 'em a bit first, y'know?"

"Oh, I'm sure you don't have to worry about _that_. I mean, look at our class here! There're seniors and juniors here too!"

We look around. Sure enough, our class is comprised of students of all grades, not just freshmen.

"What the crap? I thought ceramics was for freshmen," I wonder aloud.

"Well, I mean, it's an art requirement, or so I heard. The upperclassmen here probably took it this year since they never really took it any other year," Jonah explains.

"Oh, 'k. But like, why're you even telling me this? It ain't like I'd care regardless, I'd've found out myself eventually."

"Nah, I mean, I'm just saying. The same thing'll go down with Jeannie, too. I heard a few senior guys talkin' 'bout how hot she was during my civil engineering class."

I sigh. "Geez, that girl...honestly, I swear, I'd always think that no one'll talk to her since all she ever wears is business clothes, but I always fucking forget it's Jeannie we're talking about."

"Well, you're a girl, so unless you're fuckin' lesbo, you wouldn't understand. Jeannie's fucking hotttttttt," Jonah emphasizes the word so much that it makes me sick just listening to him. "She makes that monocle of hers look freakin' sexy! Maybe that's why everyone likes her so much. Maybe we all got monocle fetishes, hot damn!"

"Ew," I narrow my eyes disgustedly at Jonah, inching away from him.

"H-Hey, I never said _I _had one!"

"Yeah..._sure_ you didn't..."

The bell rings.

* * *

Noon. The final bell rings, and we're outta here.

Haley, Lucy, Hae Eun, and I agreed to go out to the mall 'n grab some yogurt together before we drop 'em off at Lucy's place. Haley 'n Lucy are kinda like me and Hae Eun, if you wanna put it that way. Hae Eun and I reach her car first, and we pile our stuff in and wait for our friends to come along.

"So how were your classes?" I ask Hae Eun, who adjusts her necktie.

"As I expected," she responds.

"And that means?"

"None of them should be any problem."

"Because you're too smart for them?"

"Not necessarily. It is more that the teachers aren't very good at their jobs."

"Yikes..."

She can be extremely critical at times, but no matter how harsh her words, they always contain a genuine amount of truth behind them.

"So if the teachers suck, what're you gonna do?" I ask.

"Learn the material myself. It is not too difficult, I should expect."

"Well, yeah...that's because you're Hae Eun."

She shrugs. "And what does that mean?"

"That you're probably too smart for anyone in this school, I guess, I dunno...what _did_ you want me to say, anyway?"

She shrugs again, leaning against the shotgun seat of our Chysler 300, and I shut the driver door and join her on her side of the car.

"Well, time to wait for those two. What're you gonna get at Yummy Yogurt?" Yummy Yogurt's the name of the yogurt place we always go to.

"Chocolate."

"As always, huh. I'm going sherbet."

She looks at me. "You never liked chocolate, did you?"

I shake my head. "No, never. Don't know why I don't, I just don't."

"You are quite strange. Chocolate is quite the delicacy," Hae Eun says, smacking her lips. I can tell she's already imagining herself holding a bowl of chocolate yogurt.

"Well, if you want it so much, why don't you just make it right here, right now?" I ask.

She sighs. "Antonia, we have already gone over this before. I do not like using my powers unless the situation calls for it."

"Well...you'd just seem like the kinda person who'd do that, just saying..."

"I am aware of that. It is just that I do not act on a whim when it comes to using my power, is all."

"I know, I know..."

Then, a few guys pass us, and one of them whistles, and they stop. I can tell they're seniors.

"Hey, you two. You're those girls everyone's been talking about, right?" One of them walks up to us in the parking lot.

"I dunno. I mean, who else's got orange-blue hair in this school? I wonder, right?" I laugh, and the guy talking to me also gives a chuckle. He's slightly taller than me.

"I'm Dennis. These're my buds, Roy and Shunsuke," he jabs his thumb over his shoulder. "Nice ta meet ya. What're your names?"

"I'm Antonia. She's Hae Eun, but call her Jeannie," I reply back. "Yo, Hae Eun, say hi, won'tcha?"

She looks over my way and gives a tiny wave.

"Kinda the shy one, huh?" Dennis smiles. "Well, I guess it's 'cause you're freshmen. Don't worry, high school isn't as scary as it is at first, you'll get used to it. So uh, you girls already drive, huh?" He eyes our car.

"Yeah...it's...it's kinda a long story, but we can both drive."

Roy blows another whistle. "Daaaayyuuum, bitches be drivin' already as _freshies!_ I barely got mine like last week, dawg!"

"Well, yeah, that's 'cause you fuckin' flunked the permit test like five times in a row," Shunsuke smirks. "Like, please, could you be any dumber."

"Yo, shut it, fool! At least I ain't mothafuckin' Asian like yer bitchass!"

"Pulling the race card now, are we? Doesn't help that you're black," Shunsuke full-on laughs, and Roy gives him light jabs to his side. Dennis also laughs with them.

"They're always like that, don't mind 'em. Anyway, you headed out somewhere?"

"Yeah, we were planning on goin' down to Yummy Yogurt with a few friends," I answer.

"Oh, that's cool. We go there every so often too, there any you like in particular?"

"Like what?"

"Y'know, what kinda flavor."

"Oh, my bad. I like sherbet."

"Oh no way, me too! Though, I like mine with pecans. I dunno why, I'm kinda weird like that, I guess, haha!"

"Nah, that's not weird, that's just called having a preference," I smirk light-heartedly.

"Preference, huh? Man, wish some of _my_ friends would call it that," he nods over to the two guys behind him.

I hear Haley calling out our names. "Heeeey, Jeannie, Antoniaaaa!"

"Heeey, Haley, don't go so faaaaast!" I see Lucy struggling to catch up. Compared to Haley, she's abysmal at sports or anything that's strenuous in the exercise department. I wave over at them.

"Oh, those're your friends you mentioned?" Dennis arcs his neck over to see. "Well, I won't bother ya any more, we've got our own plans for today too. If ya want, we can go down to Yummy Yogurt together later, if you'd like."

"Yeah, sure, maybe," I nod, and they walk off, bickering like guys usually do.

"Hey, were those guys seniors?" Haley narrows her eyes at the three guys who talked to me.

"Yeah, they were, how'd you know?"

"Think I know 'em, my bro told me. I hear they're like the school's biggest playboys 'r something."

"Really? They seemed nice enough to me."

"Well, all high school boys're horny assholes anyway," Haley smirks. "Hey, c'mon, Lucy, the yogurt isn't gonna wait for us forever!"

We enjoy the rest of the afternoon together.

* * *

After an afternoon of fun shenanigans with Lucy and Haley, we drop 'em off and return home. It's about seven in the evening by this point, and we shamble into the house. The damned furball greets us.

"Hey, you two. How was your first day at school?" he asks us.

"What the fuck? Are you trying to be our parents?" I spit at him.

"You misunderstand. I am simply asking if you sensed any potential witch presence at your school."

"No, we did not," Hae Eun responds, taking off her jacket and hooking it up on the coat rack. "I was searching actively for any, and I did not sense any for now."

"I see. It seems we have it easy for now," Kyuubey says.

"You mean _us_, not _you_, asshat? Yeah, that's for sure."

Kyuubey shakes his head like the bitch he is. "Oh dear, this pointless banter again, hm? Oh well, I shall leave you alone then for tonight. I will come back in case of anything."

I watch him walk off into the living room to curl up in his usual spot where he likes to hang out. "Yo, Hae Eun, you want anything specific for dinner?"

But she's already digging through the fridge, and she pulls out our tub of vanilla ice cream. "I'm gonna watch that Blu-Ray of Fate Stay Night, would you like to join me?" she asks with a slight cock of her head.

"Oh, yeah, sure, I've been meaning to watch those, too." I pull out a tray from the cupboard, and I flop down on the couch as Hae Eun fiddles with the DVD player. She sits down next to me, and we start up the movie and shovel through the vanilla.

As we're watching, I ask Hae Eun. "Hey, Hae Eun. I wanna ask; whenever you watch anime like this, do you ever think like, oh, I could use the powers that I see, that kinda stuff?"

Hae Eun licks her spoon thoughtfully, taking care not to waste any of the ice cream. "At various times, I had considered attempting to replicate some things that I saw," she says. "But they are not my own attacks. My own ability falls uncannily within the range of Shirou's own Trace ability, no?"

"I guess, but that's just a freak coincidence, isn't it?"

"I politely disagree. I could have acquired any kind of power when I formed my contract with Kyuubey. We all know that the wishes of Magical Girls in part influence the kinds of powers that Magical Girls will acquire upon contraction. My wish was to regain my eyesight, but the fact that I am able to 'replace reality' is not accounted for, you know?"

"Heh...well, what am I supposed to say to that, then."

Hae Eun scoops out another spoonful of ice cream. "Perhaps it is coincidence. But I feel that it is not. Just a feeling, though."

I look at the Soul Gem hanging around her neck. Although it's tradition for Magical Girls to hide their Soul Gems out in public by turning them into rings, Hae Eun could care less about that and goes around wearing it loud 'n proud. Hae Eun dimmed its light for the sake of watching the movie, but I know it'd be shining brightly as ever.

"Just asking, Hae Eun, but you ever had a boyfriend before?"

She turns her head to me. "A boyfriend?"

"Yeah, a boyfriend. Like, have you ever had one before?"

"Like, before I became a Magical Girl, or after?"

"Whichever, I don't care."

She stares back at our 52 inch plasma TV screen. "...no. Never."

"Nnnnn...that's too bad. You'd get so many guys, though."

"...I am not interested in such matters at the moment - "

I wrap my right arm around her and pull her close to me. "Haha, I knew it, I'm more than enough for you, is what you're saying, right? I'm so happy, hahahahaa~"

I'm just kidding, and she knows it. But there's still a bit of truth behind that.

"...I'm sure I will meet someone I will have feelings for eventually," she murmurs. "But I don't think it's a matter in which I must actively be seeking him out. I feel he'll come to me naturally."

"Maybe you'll find that special guy in high school."

"Perhaps. Though, the chances of that ever happening is quite low, given the overall intelligence levels demonstrated by our high school as of the late decade."

"Why? Are they all stupid or something?"

"They can't even pull an average of a 2200 school-wide SAT score. That is absolutely unforgivable."

I shake my head, chuckling. Man, this girl has the most unreasonable demands sometimes...

"Oh c'mon, not everyone's strong point is their smarts, Hae Eun."

"Oh, I am aware of that, but it helps to weed out the decent ones from the absolutely worthless."

Like I said: Damn, she's harsh.

I cozy up with her a little more, and she puts her head against my right shoulder as we continue to watch our movie.

"I'm sure you'll find someone who's right for you someday, Hae Eun."

"If not, though, I can come back to you, right?"

That takes me by surprise.

"Er...I suppose you can, yeah..."

"Why the hesitation?" she says, looking up at me in earnest.

"Well...ah, never mind," I shake my head. "Yeah, I'll be waiting for you anytime."

Hae Eun nods, as if having confirmed something super important. "Then what about you, Antonia? Have you ever had anyone like that in your life?"

I smile meekly. "Well...once before, I suppose. It was back when I was still living in Chicago."

"Can you tell me more about it?"

"Sure, yeah. I knew this guy at school who was always around me. We went to elementary school and a bit of middle school together before I moved here."

"Uh-huh."

"His name was Randall. We all called him Randy. I remember he was always the real clingy kind, y'know? At first, I didn't like him because of that, because he was so damn clingy to people, especially me. But eventually, I grew used to him. The thing was, he was always smiling, and he was always havin' a good time doing anything, like, literally anything. We'd all be down one day, maybe something bad happened, right? He'd just waltz in and make us all laugh. That was his little ability, and eventually, I kinda grew to like him for it. We hung out a lot back then..."

I find myself smiling with that reminiscent melancholy that old people have whenever they think back to their own pasts.

"What did he do when he found out you were moving here?" Hae Eun asks.

"Haha...well, you see...when I told him about six months before, since my parents had been planning for a long time to move to southern California, I could tell that he took it really dearly. I suppose at that age, the whole idea of boyfriend-girlfriend isn't really there, but thinking back to it, I knew that if we were in high school or even middle school, we'd know that we were hooking up by then. He was just glad that I told him really far ahead of time, so he could spend as much time with me as possible."

Hae Eun gives me a small smile and puts down her spoon, smacking her lips of ice cream. "What is he doing now?"

"He still lives there. He should be in high school now."

"Do you ever think about visiting him?"

"Mmm, I did once. I dunno, it's like I've already accepted I probably won't see him ever again, so it's not something I dwell on or anything. But sometimes I do think back to those days..."

"What do you mean, you probably won't ever see him again? Did something happen to him?"

My smile disappears. "I never told you this, did I? Well...long story short, when I went back to visit him, it was after I became a Magical Girl. Do you remember that week where I said I was goin' off back to Chicago for some family business, the inheritance stuff and whatnot?"

Hae Eun nods.

"I managed to get into contact with Randy again and asked him to meet me in the park that we always used to hang out at. I met him there, and we spent one last day together."

Her eyes grow wide. "One last day...?"

I try to give a smile, but nothing happens. "When I met him, he wasn't the same anymore. After I had left, it seemed like he missed me a lot. Like, lovesick status, a lot. I could just feel the sadness packed in his heart behind the joy that he felt when he first saw me in a couple years. When I realized that, I was like...man, if I go back, which I had to, then Randy would keep suffering because he missed me so much."

Hae Eun lowers her eyes. "I think I know what you did."

"I couldn't've done anything else, could I?" I give a weak smirk. "I wiped his memory. I made it so that he never remembers me, ever. It's like I never existed to him."

We watch the movie in silence for a bit. Then, Hae Eun breaks our silence again.

"Are you happy with the fact that you wiped that Randy boy's memory?"

"Ha...you're trying to make me laugh right now, right? Right?" I pinch Hae Eun's cheek, and she mumbles incoherently as I do. "Of course not, are you fucking kidding? Of course I wasn't. It was the hardest thing I had to do, other than kill my own parents. I didn't want him to forget me - I liked him enough as my 'boyfriend', but after seeing how much pain he had in him simply because of the fact that he couldn't be with me like he used to - I just couldn't leave him like that. I had to do it...for his sake."

Hae Eun rubs her cheek, cuddling even closer to me. "I'm sorry that you had to do that...I would like to empathize with you, but I can't say anything, since I've never been in your shoes in a situation like that."

I stroke Hae Eun's beautiful white hair that seems to shine even in the darkness that we're sitting in. "Sorry for something you're not responsible for? That's rich..." I giggle lightly. "Nah, it's fine. I've gotten over it now. At least I can be happy that I gave him a kiss on the forehead before I cut his memory."

"Oh, you did?"

"Yeah. It was the most I could do for him...so..."

"Hey, well, you have me now."

"Haha...yes, yes I do. I do have you now..."

We finish the rest of the movie and fool around for the rest of the night.


	6. The Reason Why I Am Who I Am

It is the weekend. The first weekend after the start of high school.

Antonia and I have decided to take a trip down to the nearby Del Amo Mall Complex. I have not been here since I was very, very young, and even though we oftentimes drive by whenever we have business in the big city or elsewhere outside of our town, I do not remember the last time I had visited this mall. But for some reason, it has always had a nostalgic feel to me.

I do not understand why.

Antonia has been here before, though. She said that she used to come down here with a few friends from middle school oftentimes and hung out here and had fun. She parks the car, and we head into the newly built mall.

"They've spent the last few years building this place up, I've heard," she explains as we walk in through the fancy new front atrium. Since it is the weekend, there are understandably a lot of people here already.

"That must be why I do not recognize this place very much anymore..." I say, looking around. This place really has changed.

Perhaps one thing has not changed. Everywhere we walk, we draw stares, ranging from downright disgust to looks of adoration. Then again, that one thing only has to do with us, not the location. At least I can console myself with that.

...but the mall is not the only thing that has changed today.

"Whew~ look at all 'em boys starin' atcha, Hae Eun! See, I told ya that whenever you wear somethin' other than formal clothes, you get a whoooole lot more attention!" Antonia exclaims, looking around us, half-laughing. I look around, too - a lot of high school guys are looking our way, whispering among themselves.

Antonia convinced me to wear something different today, so I chose a simple white fluffy blouse, a matching white silk skirt, and some Mary Janes in black socks. It is very breezy, too breezy for my tastes, but it is admittedly very refreshing. My bared shoulders feel cold, though, and my Soul Gem feels awkward to me, swinging around like this near my chest.

Before we reach the glass revolving doors, a few tall guys block our way. They look like high school seniors from some backwater hillbilly school.

"Heyyy, hotties, y'all wanna go grab some ice cream 'r somethin'? We know some real good flavors!" they all laugh out in unison with their disgustingly hoarse throats. It is pretty obvious they smoke marijuana at least a few times a week. Probably much more than that.

I personally do not care for situations like these. It certainly is not the first time this has happened, but I am more worried about Antonia. Not because she takes offense to herself, but because she feels that they are insulting me directly. Because of that, I am fully aware of the fact that she will not care for anything other than giving them the worst thrashing they have ever had in their lives.

"Antonia," I mutter to her to get her attention. "Wait on my mark." She nods, and I speak out.

"Hello. Is there something we can help you with?" I ask politely, though I do not bother giving them any more courtesy than that.

The one on my right, a boy with a buzzcut and a beanie, leans over to me. "Oh yeah, there's a _looooooot_ 'a things we could sure use help with, girl! We're kinda in a pinch, y'know why? We need a map, 'cause we got lost in yer eyes!" And they go off hooting and hollering like a bunch of monkeys again.

Well, that was one terrible pick-up line, and that just caused me to lose the rest of what little patience I had for bullshit today.

"Did you really spend the last week with that brain of yours that you have destroyed by smoking pot twenty times a day thinking of a stupid pickup line? Why would you ever think you deserve to receive help of any kind from me, dipshit?" I spit at him, and he recoils.

"The fuck - yo, bro, look at dis girl, she's fuckin' delusional! Hey bitch, I'ma fuckin' put you in your place, ya slut - "

He quickly leans in to slap me with his right hand. To me, that is laughable. I could see that coming in as soon as he moved his body towards me. But I do not react and instead simply stand still. Because Antonia will catch that hand for me.

"Yo, bastard. You didn't just call my friend a slut, did you now?" she growls at the guy. She's almost as tall as he is.

"Ow - fuckin' let go of me, bitch, I ain't talkin' ta you - "

His three other friends start to gang up on Antonia, and by this point the people around us start noticing that we are in a visible conflict with these guys, but they do not approach to offer help. How typical, but understandable. These people seem like a rough bunch to meddle with.

Well, nothing that we cannot handle.

Antonia, seeing the others try to intervene, steps closer to the guy whose hand she has grabbed, puts her palm on his face, and heaves him into another one of his friends. They both collapse on top of each other, struggling to get themselves untangled from each other.

"Hey, I do think you have found the map you were looking for," I call out to the guy who was talking shit to me. "Just make sure to read him, okay? Read him nice 'n good, because people like you will never get a girl, not a chance in hell!" I find myself grinning sadistically. I love kicking people when they're down, but only if I feel that they deserve it.

That provokes the others, and they start rushing at me, but I hardly have to worry. I watch as Antonia knocks them down all at once, and we watch them grovel, holding various parts of their bodies and groaning.

I gaze down at them with one last condescending look and start to walk past. "Come, Antonia. We can leave them now." She leads the way, making sure to step on one of their hands.

As soon as I am about step foot through the border of the revolving glass doors, I feel myself getting dragged back. The boy who had called me a slut has gotten up and pulled me backwards away from the door, with a small switchblade up against my neck. Antonia is already past the glass door, so she would have to walk all the way around to reach me. Understandably, she appears very concerned and is looking on through the glass window, but I shake my head at her, telling her that is will be fine. People around us realize that the man who is holding me hostage has a knife to my neck and gasp, backing away even more.

"You! Bitch at the door, get out here 'n fuckin' get on the ground! You don't do that, your lil' slut of a friend gets it! You got it? !"

Antonia is seriously considering following this idiot's orders. As much as I understand that she cares for me, that is really not necessary. She really does need to have a bit more trust in my ability too.

So she stays where she is, observing me keenly on what I am about to do to this poor idiot.

"Hey! You! Do as I say, fucking goddamn it! ! !" he practically screams in my ear. That is quite enough, you fucking asshat.

I swiftly put my fingers between his arms and my neck and push out, giving me just enough time and space to slip my head downwards before he has the reaction time to slit my throat. Then, I flip upside down to my hands and plant my toe - I am wearing sandals, and thus no socks - right above his right eye. I feel my toenail dig deep into his skin, and I land on my feet again as he tumbles back down onto the ground. I see Antonia give me a relieved smile and a thumbs up, and I smile back.

"Y-You..." I hear the guy push himself off the ground, growling with anger. Obviously he cannot accept the fact that a high school freshman girl is completely handing his ass to him right now. "You wanna get shanked? ! Huh? ! Is that whatcha want? !" and he rushes me again with his knife.

How pathetic.

I leave him back on the ground again, this time with his own switchblade through both his hands into the smooth white plaza ground to make sure he does not get back up. By this point, I spy the security guards coming over from another section of the mall, presumably because some of our bystanders have spotted the commotion and reported it, so I quickly slip through the glass revolving doors and join Antonia.

"You're okay, right? Nothing happened?" she asks me, and I nod.

"After fighting witches for two years, such distractions matter not to me," I reply. We get away from the scene.

* * *

We went to go watch an action movie, ate at a McDonald's, read some manga at the mall's giant bookstore, and sat at a bench eating snow cones. Even though I am not comfortable in these casual clothes, I had fun with Antonia. Something like this is quite enjoyable every once in a while.

"Hey Hae Eun," Antonia yells over at me. We are playing some co-op Time Crisis 3 at the arcades, and the clacks of the model pistols and the corresponding blams and pops of the video game machines blare over us. "You found any witch sources in the mall yet? I haven't sensed any!"

"Me neither," I call back. "One to your left, he's a red one, watch out!"

Antonia shoots him. "Nice call, thanks! But seriously, it's weird! Normally, in a really confined area, isn't the chance of us running into a developing witch like, really high?"

"Yes, but that is the basis of probability, is it not? By essence, we may end up not running into a witch here. But we have not checked out the entirety of the mall; we must keep searching until we have covered the entire mall."

We clear the second stage. I take some time to relax and look around us. There seems to have assembled a small crowd around us.

"...why do we have people watching us?" I wonder aloud.

"Uh, dude, Hae Eun, it's because neither of us've lost a single life," Antonia replies, with that what-are-you-smoking-right-now tone.

"...oh." I just remember that I don't remember either of us dying at all. The third stage begins, and we raise our fake pistols and start filling the screen with imaginary bullets.

"That damned furball said that there might be a premature witch here, right?" Antonia says.

"Yes," I respond. "But keep in mind that embryo witches are very hard to detect because their energies and powers have not yet developed fully."

"Ain't there a way for us to draw it out, though?"

"If we incinerate the entire mall complex and then some, possibly."

"Then forget I ever asked."

We fall silent as we concentrate on taking down Wild Dog.

"Duck!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

And some thousand pulls of the trigger later, we run into the final boss. I forget what his name was - it was Spanish or something.

"Yeesh - my feet're tired, been standin' for so long," Antonia notes, wiping some sweat off her brow. Not because the arcade is hot, but I can tell she has been really concentrating.

"You need not try so hard, Antonia. If in the case that we do run into a witch, you must not tire yourself out now," I advise her.

"Naaah, it's fine, I've always wanted to beat this game flawless," she laughs as we open fire again. "At least, beat it without any continues!"

We shut up to close out the game, and Antonia flings her last grenade from her grenade launcher and defeats the final boss.

"Woooo~!" she cheers as she realizes that she dealt the killing blow. We both slam the model pistols into their respective holders in the arcade machines and breathe a sigh of relief. "That was fun, now we just gotta beat our current time!"

"Er, sometime later, perhaps," I say with an awkward smile.

"Oh, no, no, I meant later, haha," Antonia panics a little, but I simply smile back at her. We leave the arcade and go buy some Cokes from a nearby vending machine. As we find a bench to sit at and sip our drinks, I wipe my monocle. The body heat I have generated from the intensity of that game has fogged it up.

"But don't you think it's weird, Hae Eun?" Antonia asks me after chugging half her Coke bottle. "You'd think that from a Magical Girl point of view, a shopping mall like this'd have a witch or two, maybe even more, hell."

"And why is that?" I ask back. I already have a good idea why, but I am curious to have some insight into her own thought process.

"Well, y'know, there's so many people here. Naturally, if you've got a higher concentration of people all in one common meeting ground, it's like a perfect breeding ground for witches 'n their familiars, right?"

I sip a little from my drink. "It is certainly true that by law of probability, there is a higher chance of a witch spawning in a tightly confined space such as a shopping mall. But remember, witches spawn from the despair and hopelessness of former Magical Girls. Thus, laws of probability and mathematics do not apply, because it is impossible to define human emotion within a rational dimension."

Antonia looks over at me with an odd look. "And your point?"

"We do not know if there will be a witch until we know for sure there is one. Thus, we must keep searching. Besides, there are much, much less Magical Girls than the general populace. If you wish to apply laws of odds and probability, at least you should apply them to the Magical Girl population, if anything."

"Yeah, yeah, I realize."

We take a sip from our sodas simultaneously.

"Problem is, what I wanna know is, how the hell do Magical Girls keep poppin' up everywhere before we can find 'em, and poof, they become fucking witches?" Antonia wonders aloud. "Like, fuck, seriously, it really seems like witches just show up without us even being able to see the Magical Girl who spawned 'em! See, that's one of the problems I got with the fuckin' furball, it's like he's creating Magical Girls explicitly to see them turn into witches right when he makes the contract with 'em!"

"In essence, yes, that is his task," I agree. "Perhaps it is difficult for you to understand because you let your emotions muddle your perspective. But that is the most efficient method of gathering the energy he seeks. And because he essentially has us, the two strongest Magical Girls in this region, to work with, he can afford to contract with those who are already at the brink of destitution and are the most likely to fall victim to their own hopelessness."

Antonia swings around to look me in the eye. "I don't like how you worded that part right there."

"Which part?"

"The part about how Kyuubey has us to work with. Going by that, you're sounding like we're Kyuubey's bitches."

I drink some more Coke. "If you were to have an extremely negative view of our situation, I do not deny that."

"Then isn't this whole Magical Girl system just like a giant fuckfest of slavery? Isn't what Kyuubey's doing basically enslaving girls like us to do his dirty fucking work? Why do we have to do it? If that fucking stupid furball and his kind are that fucking powerful to grant any kind of motherfucking wish, why can't they just go 'round collecting whatever the fuck kind of energy it is that they need to use to do whatever the hell they want? Like, what the fuck?"

"Calm down, Antonia, do not go attracting attention to us again," I warn, looking around. Antonia is very emotionally driven, and although I do understand where she is coming from, sometimes her rants can get us into trouble. "See it as you may, that is our task. And although I do not understand Kyuubey's kind myself, I can only assume that they cannot execute their own orders due to their physical limitations. It is similar to how a general in an army issues orders to his soldiers, because his army can do what he wishes to do but cannot by himself."

Antonia scowls. "So Kyuubey's the general, and we're his minions."

"Basically, yes."

"That's absolute bullshit. Don't you have a problem with that, Hae Eun?"

I sip some more Coke. "No, but only because of the fact that I do not bother wasting my time thinking of this system in that way," I say back. "That time is much better spent slaying more witches...and saving Magical Girls."

My friend looks back at me. "Saving Magical Girls, huh...but hasn't the only one you've ever saved been me?"

I look down at my lap, with my Coke bottle in my hands. She is right - Antonia is the only one that I have ever saved from witchdom. And to make me feel worse, it was purely out of whim, not a personal, heartfelt goal. After I did rescue Antonia, I held this foolish and idealistic thought deep within my heart that I would attain self-gratification in saving Magical Girls just like Antonia before they feel victim to their witches.

So far, I have not had that opportunity.

"Yes, Antonia...the only one is you so far..."

Antonia rubs my shoulder a bit. "I'm sure we'll find someone like me," sh says reassuringly. "No one deserves to become those fucking witches."

"No, they do not," I sigh, standing back up. "But we still have a job to do. Come."

We spend some more time wandering around the mall.

* * *

"Hey, hey, Hae Eun, try this out, c'mon, it'll look good on ya!"

It is becoming evening, about six o' clock. Antonia has taken me to a T.J. Max's to shop for some new clothes, a pastime I particularly do not enjoy. Unlike most other girls my age, shopping is one of the most pointless activities that a teenage girl can do to kill time, in my opinion. Literally, you are wasting hours upon hours upon precious hours perusing through rows of overpriced pieces of clothing that you will never buy, only gawk and gossip and squeal over about how good it could or would look on a particular girl or guy. Absolutely ridiculous.

But today is an exception, and I hold back my impatience, since I understand that Antonia very much so enjoys this, even if I do not.

She thrusts a few clothes into my arms and nudges me into the changing room. Oh dear, I suppose I have no choice but to comply. I spend a few minutes changing and emerge from the changing room to Antonia's gasps and squeals.

"D'awwwww, you're so cuuuuuuuute~! ! ! !" she exclaims unnecessarily. "C'mon, c'mon, look at yourself here!"

She almost drags me to the mirror nearby. I usually nonchalantly agree with Antonia's showers of praise at my supposed beauty, but really I do not care for them. Not because I intend to insult my friend, but because I simply am disinterested from clothes.

...oh?

I scan myself in the mirror. I am wearing a light sky-blue zipper cardigan, soft like the downy feathers of a mother dove, a light white strap under-blouse that is frilled along the bottom, and a white skirt that is at a comfortable length that runs down just past my knees.

"How do you like it? I didn't actually spend that long searching for these. We should totally buy these for you, Hae Eun, they're so perfect, squeeeeeeeeee~!" Antonia is raving all over me as usual.

I slowly run my hand over the material. I do not expect much out of retail store material, but...this is different. It seems Antonia's clothes-picking sense has dramatically improved since the last time we have gone shopping together.

I like this. As much as it feels very strange for me to say this, it really does feel very comfortable.

"...I'll buy this."

My words nearly cause Antonia to fall flat on her face in disbelief. "W-What? S-S-Say that again, Hae Eun?"

"...I said, I'll buy this."

"Holy tits, you actually like it? !"

I nod, but very slowly. Antonia gasps like a child who has spotted his gifts waiting for him under the Christmas tree.

"Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh, Hae Eun, you actually like iiiiitttt? ! ? ! ? !" She is suffocating me with her enormous hug, ow, ow. "I can't believe it, you're actually gonna buy what I suggested for youuuuuuuuuuuu! But wait, shouldn't I pay for it, though?"

I tell her to let go of me, and she does. "I will buy this myself," I say. "Yes, I do like this enough to do that. Thank you, Antonia."

She smiles bashfully. "Hehehe, you shoulda told me earlier you like these kinds 'a clothes!"

"Please remember, however, that this is just a rare occurrence. It just so happened to strike my fancy."

"Oh, I'll remember, Hae Eun, I'll definitely remember, haha!"

I sigh and walk to the counter. But inside, even if I do not show it, I am smiling. Happy that I have made Antonia's day.

We walk outside the T.J. Max's.

"You should totally wear that on Monday when we go to school. You'll so knock all the boys over, ahahaha!" Antonia laughs.

"Hm. You think so?" I ask amusedly. The thought of me attracting male attention because of my beauty is foreign to me, because I am too preoccupied with the horrendous mane of white hair that curses me.

"Yeah, you don't think so? Man, Hae Eun, sometimes I think you're really fuckin' delusional."

"It is one thing to praise the beauty of another. It is another thing entirely to praise the beauty of oneself. Not that the latter is a problem for me, because I have never thought of myself that way. You should know this, Antonia."

"Yeah, I know, I know, but you have to give yourself more credit than that, y'know?"

"Hm. Is that so. Hello, Kyuubey."

Antonia stops dead in her tracks as she hears the name while I shake my head a little, fluffing out my hair. Kyuubey is sitting before us, looking up at us.

"What the fuck do you want now, you asshat?" Antonia growls in a low voice, aware of the fact that ordinary people are not aware of Kyuubey's presence or existence. "We were having such a good day together, and _you _just had to show up..."

"What do you need, Kyuubey?" I ask, putting Antonia's hostility behind. "We have not detected any witch presence yet in this location."

"I know that, and that's why I've come," he replies curtly. "Hae Eun, you're smarter than your friend. You know why I'm here, don't you?"

I nod. "You've picked up a witch's scent."

"That is correct!" Kyuubey calls, turning and walking away from us. "Quickly, it's going to hatch very soon, so follow me!" And he slinks away.

"How the fuck does that furball know where the witch was and not us?" Antonia grumbles as we hurry after him. "We've literally been searching all day. What the hell, man..."

"Remember, Kyuubey is programmed to detect witches," I remind Antonia. "He is infinitely better at that task than we Magical Girls are, even if we are excellent detectors of nearby witch presences as well."

"Tch..." she bites her lip. It seems that fact bothers Antonia greatly.

We run for a minute across the mall. Kyuubey points out a portal just next to the entrance to the arcade that we were playing Time Crisis at earlier.

"Are you sure this is a safe time to enter, Kyuubey?" I ask. "Lots of people are watching this location."

"This is the only place that you can enter to reach the witch," he explains. "There is nothing I can do about the bystanders. You will just have to hope that they do not overreact too much, I suppose."

"Useless piece of shit..." I hear Antonia curse under her breath. "C'mon, Hae Eun, we gotta go before that thing wakes the fuck up."

I nod, and the portal expands to allow us through, and we jump in.

* * *

Ainsley, Antonia Aneirin.

Her power is mainly vested in her physical ability. She is many countless times stronger than your average Magical Girl because of her fitness training and conditioning that she prides herself on. That is what allows her to wield that monstrous demonic dual halberd without any difficulty whatsoever.

A corollary to this is that because her physical prowess is so great, so should her resistance to physical damage and burden. I have seen her carry many times the weight that normal high school freshmen girls normally carry, such as four dinner table chairs and the table itself when we were re-formatting the layout of our house. I have seen her take immeasurably painful hits during battles against particularly tough witches without a hindrance to her combat performance.

I have seen her rip witches in her fury limb by limb, relishing in the splashes of their blood and gore, using her hands alone.

It is hard to believe that she is still the same Antonia Aneirin Ainsley that I had rescued from witchdom on that fateful night. The Antonia that I rescued was an insecure, heartbroken, and horribly disillusioned middle school girl who was forced to kill her own parents to save them from the dreadful fate of being familiars of a witch. The Antonia that I live with is almost the direct opposite. She is loud, brash, outspoken, outgoing, profane, tough, strong, and most importantly, caring. She claims to attribute much of her change to my guidance and my helpfulness.

I do not really know much about that, to be honest.

Because in my eyes, Antonia has become that steady foundation that my heart sought after in the wake of Appa's death. I know that inside my heart, I am weak. I am very weak, pathetically weak, pitifully weak. If I lose Antonia, who else is there to take her place? Who else is there to shower me with their love and take my mind off my losses of my loved ones? Antonia represents to me the one quality that I yearn to have yet am doomed never to possess.

Strength.

What does it mean to be strong?

I thought I knew the answer to such a question. I really did convince myself at one point that I knew what it meant to be strong. To this day, I still kick myself over how fucking stupid I was to have actually tricked myself to believe so.

I believed that my lifestyle of working as Appa's personal assassin was the definition of being strong. I watched other children my age go to school and live their lives, their childhoods out like normal children, and I scoffed at them. I was helping Appa, my father whom I loved, with his work. I needed not the casual and carefree lives of my contemporary peers.

How that all changed when I lost Appa.

Antonia was the one who rebuilt my definition of strength. She was the one who showed me what it truly meant to be strong. Although she does not know it, although she always strives to be as powerful as I during combat, it is I who strives to become the paradigm of strength that she has already attained.

Antonia was a naive middle school girl when she first became a Magical Girl. Thus, when she was exposed to the cruelty that is the life of a Magical Girl, she took it much, much harder than I ever did. She was the one who literally hit rock-bottom, as opposed to I, who had already run into many hardships and pains during my own life. Even though Appa's death hit me hard, Antonia's parents' deaths hit her even harder.

The fact that she was able to rebound from those emotionally turbulent times to become who she is now is something I deeply admire.

No.

It is what I deeply yearn to possess too, but...

But...

...but...

...I feel it is too late for me to possess that quality now. It is the price that I paid for the arrogance that I once had in thinking that I already knew what it meant to be strong. Now, the closest thing I have to possessing strength is to be with someone who possesses it and draw it from them, pretending that I still am strong -

- when in fact, I am not strong at all.

* * *

We have already changed into our Magical Girl garb and stand on a tiled floor surrounded by the usual darkness that infects the worlds of witches. Because this is a developing witch, it has not yet had the time to construct an intricate maze that most other witches possess when Magical Girls come to eliminate them.

"There," Antonia nods at the center of the breeding ground. "See that?"

I see what she is looking at. An egg, polka-dotted with vomit-colored spots much in the fashion that a Yoshi's Egg would be designed. It is not moving, and it is the size of a deflated basketball.

"Although it is still very young, it will hatch at any moment," Kyuubey warns. "It is a gamble to move in now to destroy it before it hatches. This is your decision to make, girls."

"What do you want to do?" I ask Antonia. "Attempt to break it now, or wait until it hatches to engage?"

"This whole shit screams 'trap' to me right now," Antonia mutters, clenching her fists around her halberd Annie. If Antonia believes this is a trap, then I am more than willing to trust her judgment.

I make an AK-47 with a bayonet to catch in my hands. "I will bait it out," I suggest, pulling the bolt back to load the first 7.62x45mm bullet and flick off the safety. "You can pounce when it is focused on me."

"Are you sure?"

I nod and raise the iron sights of the AK-47. The first bullet pings off the eggshell, leaving no mark behind. It is bulletproof.

"It has heavy magical reinforcement," I report, after the echo of the loud AK noise dies down. "This witch is a heavy magic user, less dependent on familiars and more so on its own abilities."

"Hah, that makes our job easier then!" Antonia scoffs. "What kinda witch doesn't use familiars? Jesus Christ, this thing's gonna be easy!"

"If that is what you think, I hope you do not mind," I say, raising my gun again.

"Wait, Hae Eun, what're ya gonna - "

The roar of 29 bullets of an AK-47 assault rifle scraping against the barrel and pounding the witch's egg deafens the area.

"Still nothing," I note, as the egg is still completely undamaged, smoking from the bullet impacts. My hands instinctively remove the empty magazine and insert a fresh one, rechambering the first round. "I feel that it must come out on its own. We cannot facilitate its awakening."

Antonia slams the bottom half of her halberd into the floor. "So what're we gonna do? Just sit around with our thumbs up our asses?"

"If our patience gives out, I can simply eradicate it..." I sinisterly suggest. Antonia knows what I mean by that.

"Er...you don't have to go _that _far..." she mutters, regretting that she ever asked.

"...then perhaps there is a way to provoke it..." I start walking towards the egg, despite the fact that it very well may be a trap.

"Eeeeh? Wait, didn'tcha say that we can't do anything 'bout it?"

"But you did say it felt like a trap."

"Well, there's that, I guess..."

Antonia watches me keenly as I slowly approach the egg, my assault rifle pointed straight at it. I focus all my concentration on it, trying to sense any fluctuation in magic energy or other such supernatural sources. I walk right up to it and kneel beside it, tapping it with the end of my bayonet.

"...mm..." I mumble to myself in thought. "...perhaps...still dormant...?"

"Feel anything?" Antonia calls over to me, staying a good distance away but also sharply observing my every movement, ready to jump in in case of emergency.

"...not yet," I call back. "Back up, please. This will be a bit loud."

"Oh shit..." I hear her mutter, because whenever I mention the word "loud", she knows it means some sort of explosion. I create two I.E.D.'s and hook up some microphone receivers to the fuses, one to the left of the egg, one to the right. After making sure that they are primed, I hurry back to Antonia and knee-slide into her, and she catches me.

"On three!" I yell. "One...two...three..._fire in the hole!_"

I flip the switch on the remote detonator that transmits the signal to the bombs, and Antonia shields me from the possible shrapnel that may fly our way as the ground shakes terribly from the dual explosions. But we hear something other than the sharp cracks of gunpowder - a dreadful scream.

"That woke the witch up!" Kyuubey exclaims. "Be careful, it is now targeting you!"

"Yeah, way to state the obvious, fucktard!" Antonia screeches as we stand up to face our true enemy. Some sort of disfigured monster that has a clock as a body, with limbs comprised of numbers and Roman numerals flailing about. "So what're we doin', Hae Eun?"

I scan our enemy and quickly think up a battle plan. "Antonia, assault the witch. I will fend off her familiars while you do. Once you weaken her, I will deliver the coup de grace," I say, looking around us. We are being surrounded by multitudes of little numbers and letters with stubby feet.

Antonia shifts her grip on her weapon. "Sounds like a plan to me. Here we go!"

As she dashes off, I swing around and open fire. One shot, one kill. The heavy stopping power of the 7.62x45mm cartridge drops my enemies, one by one. The clinking of spent casings is music to my ears. They soon begin approaching me, but slowly, so I have time to toss aside my assault rifle and take into my two hands two FN P-90's. Spinning around like a ballerina, I blast everything and anything that moves, except Kyuubey and Antonia.

"Yo, Hae Eun!" I hear Antonia yell out to me. "There's somethin' really wrong!"

"What is it?" I have to yell over the blaring of my submachine guns.

"Take a look around! Don'tcha get the feelin' we haven't made any progress at all? !"

I look around. I did not realize it, but the bodies of the familiars that I have shot have disappeared as if I had not shot anything at all. Not even the casings are there, and when I check my ammunition counts on my weapons, I am still full on ammo. Even the AK-47 that I have tossed aside to discard and dissipate has still remained as if I had intended it to stay there.

This is very strange. I turn around to look at the witch. Her body consists of a clock, does it not? It does. What is its time? Midnight.

"Antonia, keep fighting for another five minutes! I am trying to see something!"

"Alright, you got it!"

We keep the battle going for that amount of time. Or, at least, what feels like five minutes.

"Yo, what the fuck's going on? !" Antonia hollers, clearly frustrated. "Why haven't we made any goddamn progress? I keep slicin' this bitch up, 'n it's like I haven't even done anything!"

I toss aside the P-90's and resort to using dual-wielded H&K USP.45's, but I take a look at the clock again.

It is still midnight.

That is when I realize what is going on.

"Antonia!" I yell one last time. "It's the witch! She is not allowing time to progress whilst we are trapped within her reality marble!"

My comrade jumps back to join me. "So how do we make it so that we can actually hurt her?" she hisses, licking at a light scratch on the back of her left hand. "Obviously, since we're her enemies, we still keep the damage we take to ourselves. What're we gonna do?"

I stay silent, my fingers on the triggers. Conveniently enough, it seems her familiars do not attack us if we do not show signs of aggression, so they simply dance around us for the time being. But I know that this luxury will not last long.

"This is a risky idea," I mumble, "but what I could do is deal an enormous amount of damage all at once in an attempt to wipe her out with one attack."

She glances over her shoulder at me. "...dare I even ask what you're thinking of doing?"

I look back at her and give her a particularly evil smile. "I have _plenty_ of ideas, Antonia. There can never be enough bombs that I can drop on anything."

Antonia rolls her eyes. "Oh, right...sorry that I forgot, heh...so what're we gonna do exactly, then?"

"For now, retreat as far away as possible." We fall back into the recesses of darkness surrounding this space within the witch's reality marble. "Stay here...this is up to me now."

"Meehhh...sittin' back 'n watching things blow up ain't exactly my thing, Hae Eun, but...if ya say so..." she scratches her head and leans back on her halberd. " Go get 'em, girl."

I nod and raise my arms. My eyes closed, I focus my concentration to visualize a powerful missile - one of the ones Appa gave me training with.

"It seems we have a bit of time," Kyuubey notes, having retreated with us due to his own lack of combat finesse. "Because the witch is still developing, she still does not seem to know how to locate you two to attack."

"Good," is the only thing I say. A flash of light pops high above us in the air, catching Kyuubey's and Antonia's attention. But I know already what is it for.

An AGM-114 Hellfire missile descends from the black murky skies above and collides with the witch's body, the clock, and detonates.

And I stand there, watching it all unfold, with a nasty smile on my face.

I love watching explosions.

I love watching the world burn.

Especially the worlds that deserve not to exist.

So guess what?

Let us add more fuel to the fire.

I raise my right arm out to my side, and an M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank crashes down on the ground beside me, its 120mm L-44 M-256 smoothbore cannon pre-loaded with armor-piercing rounds.

"Y-Yo, Hae Eun, what the fu - " but I do not even let Antonia finish her sentence as the tank belches its first cannon round.

Ahhhh, the orchestra of artillery. I feel back at home again. Something about the booming of cannon - whenever they are yours to command, they sound so...

...comforting.

Before I know it, my Abrams MBT has expended all 42 of its cannon rounds and sits, awaiting my command. I wait for the smoke to clear.

"...hey, Hae Eun, isn't that kinda overkill...?" Antonia has walked up to me, her hand on my shoulder.

I look up at her. "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing, Antonia."

"...ya think so?"

"It is what we had to do to defeat this one."

We walk to the remains of the witch...what is left of it. The clock is nonexistent - only some nuts and bolts remain, and even they are liquifying upon the witch's death. The Grief Seed, slightly cracked and definitely appearing harassed, lies upturned on the floor. I pick it up and hand it to Antonia.

"That first missile was more 'n enough to kill her, wasn't it?" Looks like Antonia knows.

I nod. "There was no reason for me to spawn that tank."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"Because I felt like it."

"That worries me."

"Does it."

"Mhm."

We exit the witch's field of influence, our work done. The tank disappears as we leave.

* * *

After buying some ice cream cones, we stand leaning against my Chrysler 300. Kyuubey is sitting on the sunroof.

"With this witch, this makes your total collection of Grief Seeds to be exactly 50," Kyuubey reports. "Although Antonia continues to use them, I still find it quite intriguing that you have not had to use a single one all this time, Jeannie."

Kyuubey addresses me by my English name.

"I believe we have already discussed this, Kyuubey," I mutter, enjoying my chocolate. "I do not like repeating myself needlessly."

"No need to worry, I am fully aware of that. I am simply stating my interest."

"And we don't wanna fuckin' hear it, bitch," Antonia hisses. "You calmed down yet, Hae Eun?"

I look at her, kind of confused at her words. "Calmed down?"

"Yeah. You okay now?"

"I do not understand. I am fine, Antonia, is there something wrong with me?"

She sighs heavily. "Look, Hae Eun..." she twirls around her ice cream cone for emphasis. "For all this time I've been living with you and fighting with you, I've noticed that sometimes, you just go waaaayyy over the top. Now, I do that too sometimes, don't get me wrong, but those're times when I was getting cornered 'n all, y'know? Like, was it _really_ necessary to land a Predator missile _and_ forty-two rounds of armor-piercing tank cannon fire onto a single witch? I mean, for God's sake, that witch wasn't even fully grown yet! Like, what's up with that?"

I do not answer her right away, as I normally do whenever I am faced with a tough question as such. I mindfully continue eating my ice cream.

"I mean, sorry that I bring this whole thing up now, but...I mean, I'd rather talk about this now than we're in the middle of a fight, you know?" Antonia stresses. "If you don't wanna answer this, that's fine, I guess, but...I just wanna know."

I roll up the paper wrapper around the base of the ice cream cone and crumple it up. I wait until I swallow the last bite before I begin talking.

"Antonia, listen to me, okay?"

She nods.

"Part of the reason why I fight is because I love the thrill of the fight. When Appa took me under his wing, I was trained to look forward to killing people. I was trained to love conflict and everything that stands to tear human beings apart. We have both changed a lot since we first started fighting together - but that one part of me has not, Antonia. I love fighting. I love killing. I love watching my enemies suffer. Do you remember what I said before I finished that witch off? 'Anything worth doing is worth overdoing'. The fact that I have the power to impose hopelessness and despair unto the very beings that are the embodiments of despair - I love that irony, even if witches cannot comprehend the concepts that they arise from. When I go completely overboard, it is not because I am agitated emotionally or I am having a bad day. It is who I am, Antonia. It may sound like a half-assed excuse...but there is honestly no better way to put it."

Antonia says nothing at first. We let the soft wind carry our long hair. I can feel Antonia's orange-blue hair tickle my left cheek.

"Really? You really think so, Hae Eun?"

I nod slowly.

"Does it make you uneasy knowing that you have that tendency?"

I shake my head.

"Then why do you treat me so well? Wouldn't that trait of yours slip and cause you to treat me like shit too? Not that I care, I can deal with it."

"You are my comrade and friend, Antonia. I would never let the dark side of me face you directly."

"...I don't doubt you, but...you never know, Antonia."

I push the side of my head against Antonia's right shoulder. "...I will not make a promise, but please know that I do not intend to show you any malice."

She puts her arm around me. "I'll believe that. But I'll be honest, Hae Eun. Seeing that crazy smile of yours - it doesn't sit well with me at all."

Oh, right. I forgot that I visibly show my bloodthirsty rampage. I sigh.

"...sorry. I don't mean to scare you."

Antonia chuckles. "Scary lil' gal, ain'tcha? C'mon, let's go home. We did what we came here for. You have fun today?"

I nod. "Let's come back sometime."

"And beat Time Crisis 3 in under thirty minutes!"

I groan while she bursts out in laughter. We drive back home.


	7. Witch On Holy Night

It's my turn to make dinner today.

Hae Eun's busy laddering on Starcraft, so that leaves me with Annie in the kitchen.

The thing 'bout Annie is that even if I'm not wielding my halberd, Annie gets restless sometimes and wants to come out. So oftentimes, especially when I'm cooking, I let her out so that she can hang out with me.

It's weird, really. I'm fully aware of the fact that Hae Eun loves pets, especially cats 'n dogs. We just can't keep any since I'm not particularly fond of animals, which makes me feel bad, but I just don't wanna have to deal with them, to be honest. So to Hae Eun, Kyuubey's kinda fulfilling the role of a pet. I mean, why the hell not, he's always lounging around our house since he thinks it's comfortable to stay in. Fucking asshole.

But I guess in that regard, Annie and Kyuubey are the same. They're like pets, just minus all the maintenance bullshit that comes with taking care of pets. We don't have to worry about changing their litters, feeding them on a regular basis, or whatever. I mean, yeah, sure, I like feeding Annie scraps or whatever, but she mainly feeds off my own energy. Anything else is a nice bonus to her.

Today's menu is Korean barbecue. In Hae Eun's words, the only two things that Korea's ever made are Starcraft and Korean barbecue, and even then, Starcraft was developed by an American company.

I know she still loves the ever-livin' hell outta her barbecue, haha.

I mean, I don't mind, it's really fuckin' simple to make. Just buy it, fridge it, take it out and lay the strips across the pan, marinate it just right, sauce it just right, and let the sizzles begin. Add spices 'n salt 'n pepper to adjust the flavor - today, I want a light spicy taste to accentuate the flavor of the meat, so I sprinkle a little bit of chili pepper and a dab of salt and let the heat melt them into the ribs. Smells lovely already.

Annie helps me by being the taste expert. The way I know I haven't cooked something right or not yet to perfection, I can just cut out a bit of whatever it is that I'm cookin' and feed it to her. She'll give me feedback based on her reaction. If she barks and nods her head, it's good to go. If she doesn't do anything, there's a bit of work left. And if she sticks her tongue out and lowers her head whimperin', that means somewhere along the way, I've fucked up.

But I didn't fuck up this time, 'cause Annie barks and barks, begging for more.

"Hey, hey, Annie, this is for Hae Eun, there isn't enough for everyone, you know."

She whimpers and gives me a pitiful look. Goddamn it, maybe we _should_ keep a pet.

I can't resist that look. I sigh and dig through the fridge to take out another portion of the short ribs to make for Annie.

"If Hae Eun yells at me for using up two nights' worth of food for you, Annie, I'ma hang you up 'n use you as a punching bag for one of my workouts!" I threaten jokingly, and Annie simply barks again in joy.

* * *

"Hae Eun, dinner's ready!" I yell so that Hae Eun hears me from her room. I've already set the dinner table with our utensils and plates and food.

_"I will be over in about ten minutes. Please go ahead and eat without me," _Hae Eun replies back via telecommunication that Magical Girls have to communicate with one another if they are in close proximity.

I put Annie's portion on a big bathing towel so that the ground won't get stained while she eats, and whoa, there she goes. I chuckle watching her eat.

"Oh, dinnertime?" Kyuubey asks, jumping up on the table. "You need not feed that beast of yours, for it feeds off your magic energy. Why feed it human food?"

"Shut up, you," I sneer back. "I just spent the last hour makin' a good dinner, and the last thing I want to have done to it is get ruined by your stinkin' ass slinkin' around like you own this joint. And don't think I'm givin' you any unless Hae Eun says so."

He simply lays down on the table where he jumped onto it. "Again, you and your qualms," he says with that constantly disgustingly snug face of his. "I have adjusted to your mannerisms, Antonia Ainsley. Do not think that you must constantly greet me with your animosity."

I scowl at him and look back to watch Annie eat. Like I said, I'm perfectly aware of the fact that there's no need for me to feed Annie like this. But even if it's not necessary, if I wanna feed her, I'll fucking feed her, damn it. Who the fuck is Kyuubey to say that I shouldn't do what I wanna do? Motherfucking asshole.

Hae Eun soon takes her seat at the dinner table. "Thanks for the food," she says to me before she bows her head slightly in prayer.

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but Hae Eun is a pretty devout Presbyterian. She goes to church every Sunday - I've never seen her miss a single Sunday unless she needs to go somewhere else important. At home, she prays before every single meal. I mean, damn, even on her Magical Girl clothes, there're Gothic crosses along the bottom of her skirt. And seeing tomorrow's Sunday, I'm guessin' that she's gonna go to sleep earlier than she normally does throughout the week to get ready for church.

"You gonna go to church tomorrow?" I ask Hae Eun while we dig into our meal of Korean short ribs, white rice, grilled onions and red pepper, and sliced cabbage. She nods.

"As always."

"Mkay."

She usually drives herself to church.

"Your church havin' any events lately?"

"Not at the moment. Only the usual ones."

I don't resent the fact that Hae Eun is religious. If you believe in God, Allah, whoever or whatever, that's fine by me, since that stuff doesn't really affect me. Personally, before I offed my own parents, my family was Catholic. Or, at least, traditionally, we were. Towards the end...not too sure about that, really. And definitely after Hae Eun saved me, I dropped everything that I held religious to me right there on the spot.

It's not that I feel bitter or anything - I mean, what's happened's happened. I know that there's nothing that I can do to go back and change the past, since I don't have such a ridiculous power, though I'm sure, given just how diverse the powers of Magical Girls can be, that there's someone out there who has that kinda power. But the thing is, after I killed my parents, I lost faith in everything but Hae Eun. I mean, if you really wanna put it this way, you could even say that I consider Hae Eun to be my God. I owe her my life. She saved my life, my will to continue living and not succumb into witchdom.

Hae Eun, to me, did a whole lot more than what God ever could, because I don't need to pray to Hae Eun to have her do shit for me. She'll do it anyway.

That's why I don't mind at all that Hae Eun is religious. Just as I might see her as my God, so does she to see someone else in the same manner.

It's just that I can't bring myself to worship a God that, no matter how hard I prayed to save my parents, didn't do jack shit about it. So you know what? Fuck going to church. Living for someone who saved my life is way more fucking worth it than that.

I remember the day when Hae Eun asked me to go to church with her. I told her that I didn't want to, and when she asked why not, I explained this reasoning to her. Looks like she understood, 'cause she never asked me to go again.

It makes me kind of uneasy, because I feel like I hurt her feelings somehow. She claims that I didn't, but I'm sure she'd be happy if I went with her one day. One of these days.

It's just...I guess you can say I'm beyond worth saving.

As we're finishing up our dinner, Kyuubey speaks out. "It seems I am receiving a notification from one of my kind from a different region. He states that a Magical Girl is visiting this region later next week, and he is asking if you can provide her with a place to stay during her stay."

"How long will she be staying for?" Hae Eun asks.

"Only a few days," Kyuubey responds. "She will not be long."

"Why's she comin' over?" I ask.

"It appears that her school is sending her abroad to America for a convention of sorts."

Hae Eun nods. "I know what it is for. I will be attending that convention as well."

Huh? "Yo, Hae Eun, what's this convention thingy you're talkin' about? How come I haven't heard about it?"

"On Friday, there was a lunch meeting regarding Model United Nations, and they said that there's a Model U.N. convention in Los Angeles that we should attend if we want to join it."

"So you're sayin' you wanna join M.U.N.?"

"I am definitely interested."

I scowl at no one in particular. Politics? Bleh, no thanks.

"Why the scowl, Antonia?" Hae Eun asks me. Shit.

"No, nothing. Just, politics doesn't float my boat at all," I hastily reply.

She nods. "Understandable, but it definitely helps broaden perspectives."

"Yeah, but what the hell'll we use that for? We're fuckin' Magical Girls; if something's wrong, either we fix it or we blow it the fuck up. You of all people should know that!"

"I like to leave Magical Girl business out of real world business, Antonia. I am fully aware of what I did earlier today, but I reserve that attitude specifically for our enemies." She turns to Kyuubey again. "Please tell her that she is welcome to stay at our house for the duration of her visit."

Kyuubey nods. "It's done. It appears that her flight will arrive sometime on Monday. Do you mind if you give me a contact address so she may be able to reach you?"

She gives Kyuubey her email address.

"This will be satisfactory. She will send you an itinerary shortly."

Hae Eun slides a small plate of rice and sliced pieces of short rib over to him, which he takes with pleasure and begins eating thoughtfully.

"May we know the name of our fellow Magical Girl friend?"

Kyuubey looks up from his plate.

"Mami Tomoe."

* * *

"I am going to bed, Antonia," Hae Eun calls from the hallway leading to our respective rooms.

I wave at her from the couch, where I'm watching some late-night Adult Swim 'cause I have nothing better to do. "Yeah, g'night, Hae Eun, sleep well, 'k?"

She nods and smiles. "I will."

I smile back, watching her disappear into the darkness of the hallway as the soft click of her door marks her sleep. Kyuubey hops onto the couch next to me.

"Is Jeannie going to sleep?"

I nod. "Yeah, she's got church tomorrow. She doesn't like to miss that."

Kyuubey curls up against the cushion. "Oh dear...I was about to inform her that there is another witch tonight."

I sigh. "It's fine, I'll take care of it myself. Not gonna let some dumbass witch bother Hae Eun."

"But won't it be more efficient if both of you take on the witch together?"

I scowl at the furball. "Sometimes, humans don't give two shits about 'efficiency', Kyuubey," I mutter. "You can go on and on witcher trap 'bout how you don't understand, but I do not care. I'm killin' that witch on my own."

Kyuubey doesn't even look back up at me. "Suit yourself. Just know that we must leave in about two hours' time, I shall lead you there."

I nod. "Yeah, you fuckin' better..."

We sit on the couch as I watch some more TV. I'm just sittin' here really with no purpose, I'm just killing time, really. So I decide to ask about this new Magical Girl who's gonna crash here.

"Yo, Kyuubey, so what's up with this Mami gal?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, I wanna know who this girl is before she comes so I know what to expect. Can you, like, describe her to me?"

Kyuubey lifts his head. "If you would like, I am able to transfer the experiences of the Incubator who is currently working with her."

"Sure, fine."

"Okay, give me your Soul Gem, please."

He stands up on those stubby-ass legs of his as I take off my Soul Gem ring and turn it back into its egg form to give to him. He puts his paw on it, and instantly, I see visions of this Mami Tomoe girl.

Hmmm...I see. Mami Tomoe - she's a good one. She's a bit taller than Hae Eun, but still definitely way shorter than me. What's 5 foot 11 inches in centimeters...like, 180 or something? Yeah, so she's still way shorter than me. Actually, no, fuck that, Hae Eun's still taller! Holy shit, this girl's way shorter than I thought! And she's supposed to be our age! Oh wait, I'm just freakishly tall for our age, is all, whoops, heheh. But besides that...she's Japanese and blonde...well, I would say something about Asians and blonde hair, but one, I shouldn't talk, given how I dye my own hair, and two, she actually looks pretty good in yellow hair. But the hell's up with the drill hair? Maybe it's just her style. She seems like the overtly nice kind...the kind who'd treat you to tea parties 'n shit 'n make friends with everyone. Holy shit, I was right, damn this girl loves her tea! She's even drinking it while she's fighting a goddamn witch, what the fuck?

Whoaaaaa...okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell's her power? Infinite Musket Works 'r some shit? What the - that's just about overpowered as Hae Eun's ability! Except they're all percussion-lock muskets with rifled barrels for increased accuracy and muzzle velocity. Shit, Hae Eun's military nutjob knowledge's leakin' out from me, crap. But hey, I suppose having infinite muskets at your disposal can solve everything. More dakka, they said, after all. And her Soul Gem's shape is in a flower, on her head...hmm.

"Okay, that's enough," I tell Kyuubey. "Think I've seen enough..."

Kyuubey removes his paw from my Soul Gem, and I turn it back into its ring form and put it on my ring finger again. "So what do you think about her?" he asks me.

"Mmm...I dunno. I mean, she seems nice enough. Oh, can she speak English though? I didn't see if she could or not..."

"She is learning English at her school, but I have seldom heard her use English in her conversations with her friends, so I'm afraid I cannot inform you of that," Kyuubey says, shaking his head.

"Well, I guess I'll go ahead 'n assume she knows a bit, but I won't be talkin' with her much. Hae Eun can take care of talkin' to her, since she knows Japanese fluently."

Kyuubey nods. "It seems you showed a bit of interest in Mami Tomoe's ability."

I snort, chuckling in amusement. "Tch. Dude, she can spawn muskets of any size 'n caliber, up to the point that she's fuckin' making cannons outta her little beret thingy," I wonder aloud in disbelief. "She's like a niche version of Hae Eun, all she can do is blast everything that moves."

"That is not all she can do. She is also able to use ribbons that are at her disposal."

"Ribbons?"

"Yes. She can use them to bind things together, or connect things to one another."

"So in other words, she can hold someone in place for an easy shot to the head?"

"Perhaps."

I pull my eyes back at the television screen again, not saying anything. Something's bothering me.

"I can tell you are uneasy, Antonia Ainsley," Kyuubey pipes up. "Is there something you would like to tell me, besides the usual profanity that you have saved for me?"

Looks like he can tell, too, so I turn back to him.

"Look, Kyuubey. I know I give you shit, but this's a serious question this time."

"Very well, ask away."

I look Kyuubey dead in his motherfucking soulless red eyes. "Why are you telling me all this about Mami Tomoe?"

He blinks back at me, the little shit. "Pardon?"

"You have a reason behind everything you do, we're not dumb. You always act in ways that're most beneficial for you and your dirty fucking work. Why did you show me everything about that girl who's gonna come visit us? Why does she wanna visit us to begin with?"

"You two are the closest in the area that she will be visiting, and as I have stated, she requires a place to stay. This house was the most logical choice, being that everyone living here is a Magical Girl."

"Yeah, okay, besides that. I just feel like it ain't like you to show me all 'bout Mami even before she's fucking here. That ain't what you'd normally do. Are you tryin' ta set us up? What's goin' on here? What're you tryin' ta do?"

Kyuubey continues gazing back at me like he normally does. "Because you and Jeannie already know the truth about Magical Girls, I am able to tell you this. What I did not show you is the weak side of Mami Tomoe. Underneath that strong, motherly facade that Mami Tomoe carries about her lies a weak, depressed, frightened, and struggling girl who desperately wishes to make friends at her school. She does not yet know about the underlying truth of Magical Girls. Currently, her emotional condition is stable for now, but I have my reasons to believe that when she does arrive here, she may be exposed to the truth about Magical Girls. I do not believe she will survive for long as a Magical Girl after gaining such knowledge."

I wanna fucking stab this fucking bastard right where he sits, but I can't, since Hae Eun would get mad at me, so I just turn away from him, back at the screen, disgusted.

"You want us to fucking kill her when she turns, don't you."

Kyuubey nods. "But of course. The situation cannot be more perfect. Mami Tomoe is a physically strong Magical Girl, but when it comes to her psyche, she is extremely brittle. These two factors inevitably mean that the energy I can collect from her transition into witchdom will be substantial, and I can have you two, the two strongest Magical Girls in this region, kill her witch form when it emerges. The Grief Seed that she will drop will also contain much more magical energy than your average Grief Seed. It works out for everybody, does it not?"

Listening to this bastard...grrrrrr...

But I let go of my anger. Hae Eun's already talked to me before about Kyuubey, how he and his kind are fully fuckin' incapable of grasping human emotion. I guess I can understand, since even if I were to go off on him, it's not like he fuckin' gives a crap. I mean, I know that he's just doing what he needs to do.

But the fact that he's so fucking manipulative 'n noses into the lives of ordinary girls like us makes me sick to the bone. To the motherfucking bone.

Then, I get an idea.

Oooohh, this'll be even more perfect than Kyuubey's fucked up plan for us to murder Mami Tomoe.

I guess I wasn't hiding my smile well enough, 'cause Kyuubey asks me, "Why the smile, Antonia Ainsley? I thought you would throw more profane words at me, despite the fact that I do not understand your reasoning behind such actions?"

I shake my head, still smiling. "Nah, it ain't that. I ain't in the mood to roast your ass, Kyuubey, not tonight. I just thought of the perfect solution to this..."

Kyuubey cocks his head. "Oh? What kind of plan?"

"The kind that you don't need to know anything about, bitch."

He shakes his head. "Mmm, I still do not understand. I shall leave you until it is time for you to defeat the witch I mentioned earlier."

"Yeah, come get me when it's time...lousy son of a bitch."

I laugh softly and switch channels. Fuck Adult Swim, let's go watch the highlight reels on ESPN or something...

Yep, yep. I don't know this Mami Tomoe girl, but that don't matter. We're gonna save her. It's what Hae Eun wants to do. It's what Hae Eun did to me. So I'm kinda obliged to carry on the favor. I ain't lettin' Kyuubey get his way.

We're gonna save Mami Tomoe.

* * *

Two hours later, I've driven the Chrysler 300 all the way over to frickin' Redondo Beach. Man, this one's far.

I only say that 'cause anything farther, usually Hae Eun makes like a helicopter or somethin' to transport us, haha. Guess I'm too used to her power as well.

I park the car along the empty parking lot and jump over the metal posts to get on the beach. It's a clear night out with a full moon, so it's really easy to see everything.

"There it is," Kyuubey calls out, running towards a dark swirl floating over the water. "Perhaps this witch uses water magic or something of the like."

"Yeah, way to state the obvious, you little dipshit," I smirk. "Let's just get this fuckin' over with."

I hop on through, and instantly my feet touch water. It's ocean water, as expected, but I can use my magic energy to walk on it like motherfuckin' Jesus. But still, it's the ocean all around for fuckin' _miles_. This ocean never ends, seems like.

"Yo, where's the witch?" I ask Kyuubey.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he simply states back. Well, fuck, that don't help.

I change into my Magical Girl costume and pop Annie into my hands, twirling it around just for the sake of unnecessary fanciness. "I can play the waiting game too, if that's what this bitch thinks she'll do."

Then, a rumbling, and a few waves rise up off in the distance.

"It seems there is no reason to wait," Kyuubey remarks. I snort in amusement.

Those aren't waves. Those're fucking tsunamis.

"Tsunamis out all the way here? There's not even submerged land plates that I can see," I scoff. "Magic, just what the fuck is it, anyway?"

"Prepare yourself!" Kyuubey cries.

"Yeah, fuck you too." I have Annie transform into her main body form in case I need the help of another figure in case of anything and rev up the chainsaw blade on the other end of my halberd. "Annie, on my mark, alright?"

Annie growls back, her spiky mandible thingies drippin' with saliva already. I fed her well, so looks like she wants to repay me for the food. I smile deviously.

Earlier today, I accused Hae Eun of being too bloodthirsty at times. But that's just me being an overprotective lil' pussy. I'm actually about the same way, if not the exact fucking same. I get swept up in the moment, too. I'm a motherfuckin' shark - when I smell blood in the water, when I see red, I'm makin' sure I stain _everything_ with red. Until everything is done.

Until I see the head of the witch I target a full mile away from where it should be.

Tch, I hate myself for being such a hypocrite. But the reason why I don't let it bother me is because I know Hae Eun will still forgive me, because she's my good friend.

You know how I mentioned earlier that I kinda see Hae Eun as like the God figure of mine? That's why. I can fuck up as badly as I want or can, and Hae Eun will still accept me back into her open arms like I never did anything to begin with. It's really fucking selfish, I know, since I'm the only one she'll ever show that forgiveness to, but I don't care about anything else in this world other than her. My beloved companion, friend, and comrade. She's the reason why I'm still alive.

The tidal waves stop just about some hundred meters or something before they crash down into the top of the ocean again, spraying me with ocean water. Some kinda weird shark thing with - what the fuck are those, anyway, nails? - for teeth rises up outta the water, screamin' at me. Thing's like, what, ten stories tall? Holy fuck, it ain't some goddamn minnow I'm fishin' for. Packs of killer orcas swim around me, their fins stickin' outta the water like I'm in Jaws or some shit. Another trippy-ass acid dip.

Azure Willy. Huh, how fitting.

"They're coming!" Kyuubey shouts, and the big bad shark thing roars in its in-fucking-comprehensible scream or whatever, and the orcas come rushin' straight at me. I could laugh - I just spin where I stand and swing, and I let the chainsaw blade rip everything that jumps into my range get absolutely fucked in half. Annie swipes at the air, smacking the orcas so hard that I can hear bones 'n shit break. We do that for like, half a minute before this witch can clearly see that ain't doin' shit to us, so the orca packs swim back behind her and consolidate their numbers.

Willy roars again, and the orcas _jump out of the water _and gather behind her, _in the fucking air._ What the hell?

"Oh, she's gonna fire those things straight at me," I mutter unamusedly. "How original..."

And so she does. Did I mention that her aim is god-awfully bad? I just put up my chainsaw halberd in front of me, and the angle makes it so that every orca that woulda hit me gets diced in half, the other way. I could laugh at how badly this fight is one-sided. Annie's just sittin' on the water next to me with her mouth open, just waitin' for more orcas to pile into her mouth so she can chomp on all of 'em.

So that went on for like a minute. I'm not done havin' my fun yet, so I yell out to the witch.

"Yo, ya fuckin' fruitcake of a shark, I get fuckin' bitten on the regular by this thing next to me, what's a shark bite gonna do? Rip your arm off? Oh please, bitch, that still ain't gonna kill ya, y'know!" and I laugh uncontrollably. That musta hit her pretty good, 'cause the thing roars even harder than before 'n dives back into the water, splashin' ocean water everywhere.

I kinda feel bad for the girl that this witch belongs to. I bet she became a Magical Girl to gain her arm or leg back after getting it ripped off by a shark. I dunno the details, so whateva.

Then, without warning, the shark witch pops up right underneath my feet, or at least she tries to. I can see that big shit from miles around comin' straight for me, so I just sidestep that crap like it's nothing. As the shark body's falling back down into the water, I walk up to it and thrust the bloody 'n rotating chainsaw wheel right into the side of the witch. I screech madly as the blood starts rollin' off beautifully, and the witch fills the entire fuckin' ocean with her screamin'. Yeah, scream louder for me, asshole! I can't heaaaaaaaaaaar yooooooooooooou!

The shark disappears underneath the water again, but the blood trails give her away. She pops out again, this time from my right side, but it's already way past over.

I jam my halberd right in between the spaces in her nail teeth, timing it just perfectly so that I can actually hold the entire fucking shark witch thing with my own halberd. This thing must be some couple tons heavy, holy shit. But that doesn't fuckin' faze me, I can hold way more than that, bitch, so don't act like yer all surprised, ha!

I stop my chainsaw blade so it's cut into the gums of the thing, or at least where the gums should be, so my halberd grip on the thing doesn't slip. I hoist the thing upright, straight fucking up.

"Hey, hey. I dunno if the girl you came from can still hear me or not, but I don't fuckin' care," I start yellin' up the damn shark's throat. As if the Magical Girl who made this thing'd ever be able to hear me in the first place, right? "There're a lot worse things than what you've ever suffered! You think your sufferin's bad enough? There's another Magical Girl out there who's gone through worse! No matter what, you think you got shit bad when there's someone else out there who's got it way fucking worse! And so you think it's a good enough excuse to off yourself 'n make these fuckin' turds! See yourself? Can you see this shit? This what you wanted to become, eh? ! This is what you've wanted to become? ! Fucking pathetic! Absolutely fucking pathetic! ! ! You had a chance to recover, y'know? ! If you'd only realized that having fatalistic attitudes'll only fuckin' get you here, right? ! If fucking only! And now guess what, some random bitch just came along and is about to fuck up your shit enough to send you swimmin' around the oceans seven times! You better believe in fuckin' heaven 'r hell, 'cause I ain't got jack shit of an idea where you'd go! ! !"

I stand there, holding up my halberd and this shark witch thing while laughing my ass off. Annie screeches 'n jumps up onto the side of the shark, running up along the side where I ripped through with my chainsaw, and at the very top, she rips the wound open to let herself inside and start fuckin' shit up top down. Annie makes sure she stays just long enough to ensure the maximum amount of pain to this bloody thing, and the Willy fuckin' screams 'n writhes, and mind you, I'm right inside her mouth. But it's worth, I just need to laugh louder so that I don't hear her suffering.

Annie finally rips through the thing's esophagus, all bloody 'n shit.

"Alright, Annie, watch me, 'k?" I hop a little up into the air and yank my halberd out from in between the thing's jaws, and before the witch can fall back down on me, Annie reverts to her halberd form as the head on the other end of the spear, and I fuckin' hurl the thing straight up. I make it so that my halberd extends to the perfect length to rip the witch straight in fuckin' half. The two halves of the thing keel over in midair 'n flop onto the surface like some fat dude doin' a cannonball into a small swimming pool, and as they're sinkin', I catch not only my halberd with the falling raindrops of blood but also the Grief Seed that the witch's death produces.

"Job done," I say, tryin' to mimic that human worker dude from Warcraft III or whichever game that's from. "Easy fuckin' peasy."

Kyuubey hops back onto my shoulder again. "Good work, Antonia Ainsley," he remarks, obviously happy that this witch yielded quite the amount of energy he's always lookin' for, the bastard. "You seem to be low on magic energy, however. Are you not going to use that Grief Seed to replenish your expended energy?"

I sneer at him. "Fuck no. You're already forgettin' the power resonance thing?"

"But the power resonance phenomenon is not nearly as efficient as tapping into the energy that a Grief Seed provides," Kyuubey argues.

"Does it look like I give a fuck?" I laugh sadistically. I feel like I'm becomin' the Hae Eun I saw while fightin' the witch at the mall from earlier today. "I'll kill shit the way I want, I'll get my energy back the way I want, I'll live my fuckin' life as a goddamn Magical Girl the way I want. You're just a fuckin' tool, Kyuubey, nothin' more, and a shit-ton less."

He shakes his fuckin' annoying head like he usually does. "Really, I do not under-"

"Fuck you, I don't need to hear that line, now shut up 'n be grateful I killed this thing quick," I shut up him fast before he goes on yappin'. He's already oversteppin' boundaries by riding on my shoulder, fucking little bitch. We exit the portal.

* * *

I pull back into the garage with the Chrysler. The house's dark, since I turned off all the lights before leaving, and I don't wanna wake Hae Eun up, so I have to navigate my way through the dark. I don't have nearly as good of night sight as Hae Eun does, but I make it slowly and surely to the bathroom so I can shower 'n wash all this blood off.

Wait, I didn't turn on that light -

"Antonia, what are you doing?"

Oh shit.

Hae Eun's standing in the hallway, leaning out from her bedroom door. The light isn't that bright, but it's more than enough to show all the bloodstains on my arms, legs, 'n face. She simply sighs before I can verbally defend myself.

"Kyuubey told you there was another witch tonight, correct? And you did not wake me because I have church tomorrow?"

I nod. "I didn't wanna wake you up, Hae Eun. Sorry."

She shakes her head. "No, it's fine. Did you kill it and get the Grief Seed?"

I nod, showing her the Grief Seed. "I fucked it up good."

Hae Eun smiles back at me. "Good work tonight. I'm sorry I couldn't help, I woke up when you opened the garage door."

I suppose the garage door _is_ kinda loud.

"Lemme just go take a shower and I'll go to sleep too, Hae Eun, 'k?"

She nods, but she speaks out again. "I can sense your magic energy levels to be quite low, Antonia. Would you like to sleep together tonight?"

I smile back at her warmly.

"Hell yeah!"


	8. Alpha Omega

I wake up to the alarm buzzing softly from my Google Nexus to find myself tucked into Antonia's arms and breasts. It feels nice in here, so I cuddle up a bit more and close my eyes for a few more minutes' worth of sleep.

...Antonia's power is back up to normal again, which is good.

Antonia is fast asleep. She will not wake anytime soon, so I ease myself out of her arms and tap the alarm on my smartphone off.

Time to go to church.

I shower quickly, but I dry and smooth out my white albino hair delicately and meticulously. As much as I hate my own hair, Appa loved it, and part of his last words with me before he passed away instructed me not to mutilate my own hair. He was fully aware of how much I hate this disgustingly white hair of mine, and my love for my father far surpasses my own petty anger for an aspect of me that I cannot change.

I cook some breakfast - just a simple breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon strips, sausage links, and mashed potatoes with gravy - for myself and Antonia, making sure to put some foil over her plate and place it on the dinner table. She will know what to do with it.

I dress for the occasion, my usual formal business style. My church is a little different from the rest in that it is not looked down upon at all should one decide to come to church in casual clothes. The teenagers and kids are never expected to dress up unless it is for some special occasion like baptism, but most of the adults dress up anyway for the sake of politeness. My friends at church have gotten used to my dressing habits anyhow.

At church, there are three available worship sessions for adults, and two for the middle school/high school department, with the third session reserved for the English Ministry, which is what we fancily call the worship session where college students and other non-Koreans attend.

Oh, did I forget to mention that my church is a Korean Presbyterian church?

After finishing up all preparations, I tuck my small leather-bound Bible that Appa passed down to me in his will, take the car keys, and grab my church hat, as I like to call it. It has wide brims and a white ribbon, like the white ribbon on my fedora that is part of my Magical Girl uniform. It is one of those hats that a pastoral maiden who dwells on the side of a grassy hill would wear in those fantasy books.

Perhaps I am part of a fantasy right now.

Wouldn't surprise me.

* * *

I park the Chrysler in the back parking lot of my church. Junimseun Presbyterian Church.

This was the church that Appa attended when he was young, living in America. Apparently, there is some interesting history behind it - the church was originally part of another church, called the First Torrance Presbyterian Church. I hear that Junimseun Church split off as a separate faction after some of the head elders and pastors became embroiled in a conflict of some kind, and eventually, they realized that they could not resolve their differences and decided that simply forming two churches would be better off for everyone so that the conflict would cease, at the very least.

Appa told me of the days when Junimseun Church was first formed, of how much the people who attended it from its roots and origins suffered because they did not have a proper congregation location to go to for worship. They would rent out rooms from one hotel, then jump to another hotel, then go to some abandoned garage lot if money was short. Then, finally, they accumulated enough money to buy out a former industrial factory space for their own church, which is where it currently stands today, its cross soaring high and proud over Lomita Boulevard. Everyone had pitched in either money or effort or even both to make this church a reality so that they could finally say with pride that their beloved church and fellow church-goers had a permanent place to call "church". And now, that desire is truly real.

As for the other church, the T.F.P.C., I drove by that church one afternoon while coming back from buying groceries before school started, and I saw a sign over he engraved letterings that spelled out the church's English name that said:

"NOW AVAILABLE FOR RENT"

I'm not quite sure how to react to that.

Appa, because he could not afford to donate money, instead donated his time and effort to Junimseun Church. His sweat and blood helped construct the church I attend now. Whenever we came back home from active service, we would always come here for Sunday service. After he passed away, I vowed to attend church just as I had done with Appa, to carry on his legacy and the commitment he put into God and everyone here who appreciated the existence of this church. I feel it would insult his memory greatly should I not attend.

I walk through the first set of doors that leads straight into the cafeteria area and the hallway that leads to the English service room. I have arrived some twenty minutes early, so many of the middle schoolers and high schoolers are lounging about, socializing and laughing in the hallways and inside the worship room. But when I walk through to enter the worship room, people immediately notice me.

"Hey, Jeannie~!" I hear one girl call out to me just as I am walking through the door of the worship room. I turn around, and I see Chewy Lee and some of her school friends in tow close behind her and catch up to me. "Did you start school yet?"

I nod. "Yes, we have started now."

"Yay, now we're all going to school together!" she exclaims quite happily as we walk to find seats. "I thought you went to Peninsula High though, what's up with that?"

"Peninsula High was where I had originally planned to go, but I changed my mind and went to Narbonne instead," I said as we sit down. "It was too inconvenient for both me and Antonia to be going to different schools."

"Awww, I see. But I heard that Peninsula High was a lot better of a school, though, and since you're super smart, I thought that you'd go there..." Chewy says thoughtfully. "I mean, I'm not trying to bash on Narbonne or anything, just...y'know how that school's rep is, I just think you'd be way smarter than everyone there."

I look down at the Bible in my hands. I certainly did wish to attend Peninsula High School, because the quality of students and education in general there was much better than any other high school that is in our area. But I cannot say that the main reason why Antonia and I chose to attend Narbonne High School was because it would not impede on our duties to hunt and eliminate witches.

"I know, but there was not much else we could do. I would love to attend Peninsula, but...we could not."

Chewy smiles at me. "Oh, don't worry about it. We've all had to make some pretty hard choices at some point, right?"

How right she is.

I take off my wide-brimmed and ribboned hat so I can properly talk with my friends.

"Hey, looks like our ministry's gotten even bigger," Chewy remarks. Since she is the daughter of the head pastor for the adult services, Chewy naturally knows just about every kid in the English Ministries. We call her Chewy because of her Korean name, which is Joo Hee. You can see why that name stuck.

"Is it because there were a lot of kids from the elementary school department coming up?" I ask, also looking around at all the new faces. Today is technically the first day of worship for the new school year, since our English Ministries largely operate around the school schedule.

"Mhm!" Chewy nods quite eagerly. She is a very sociable person, quite the opposite of me, which makes me wonder sometimes why she sees so much value in me as a friend. I first met her after I came back from military service, around the time when Appa passed away. Although my unique looks drew a lot of curious attention to me, especially from the boys, my cold and aloof attitude drove most of them away from me, which I did not care for whatsoever. I came to church to worship, not socialize, I thought. But Chewy opened me up to talking with everyone, and soon, through her, I got to know everyone from our grade and throughout our ministries. I owe a lot of my goodwill with many people here to Chewy.

"Hey, you guys, did you hear about that M.U.N. conference they're having this weekend?" one of Chewy's friends who attends Torrance High with her, Hannah Choi, pokes her head through from the row of chairs behind mine and Chewy's. "I heard it was gonna be super big, like one of those super-duper megaplex conventions!"

"It will be hosted at the Los Angeles Convention Center, after all," I say. "It is estimated that some fifty thousand students will attend the conference at any given point in time."

They gawk at me. "F-Fifty _thousand? ! ? !_" Chewy nearly screams out loud. "What the heck...I'm starting to regret signing up for M.U.N. now..."

Chewy is not good with speaking in front of people, even though she signed up at her school to begin with in an effort to fix that very problem.

"It will be fine, only the upperclassmen will be doing presentations," I reassure her. "They have already assigned speaking roles to those who have volunteered to participate in the convention-wide debate."

Breathing a sigh of heavy relief, Chewy leans back in her chair, starting to play with Hannah's short dark brown hair. "I bet you could go out there and do an even better job, Jeannie," she comments nonchalantly.

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"Because you're so freaking smart, duh! Remember when we did debate together at that one academy? I forget its name..."

"President Academy?"

"Yeah, that's it! Remember those days? No one wanted to be on the other side, because you'd just completely wreck everyone!"

I break an amused smile, because I remember those days very clearly. "But this is M.U.N., Chewy. M.U.N. and debate are two different things."

"Not to me, when I suck at the speaking in front of people part!" she pouts cutely. "I don't think I'll ever get used to it..."

I giggle softly and pinch her cheek lightly.

"Ouch! Hey, Jeannie, what's that for, you meanie..." she pouts even more, but giggling with me this time.

"I am sure you can be just like your own dad and be good at speaking in front of a lot of people," I say to her. "I mean, let us be honest here, if you did not make me your friend, I would not be talking with anyone else here in this room."

"Awww, c'mon, those're two way different things, too! Just talking with friends isn't like talking to a whole entire audience, you know."

"Alright, everyone, take your seats, it's time for worship!" Brian, one of the teachers of the English Ministries, claps his hands loudly as the praise team walks in from the side door to take up their instruments. The kids outside pile in and close the doors behind them, and the lights dim for worship.

* * *

After worship, I go with Chewy and friends to the cafeteria to eat lunch. Today's menu consists of Korean duk-guk, a hearty soup with slices of rice-wheat, strips of egg, strips of salted seaweed, and a bit of salt and pepper. A very good dish, in my opinion. Not much taste besides the salted seaweed and the spices, but very, very filling and easy to make. We all grab trays and food and sit together in the packed cafeteria, which is, as mentioned, very crowded due to the fact that both the adults and kids share the same cafeteria to eat. But it is not the hectic kind of crowded, it is the easy-going, laid-back, relaxed kind of crowded where you see all your friends and acquaintances all in one room.

I briefly bow my head in prayer before beginning to eat. It is quite surprising how well home-made cuisines can be made. I have had this soup dish before, in restaurants and such, but I still feel that homemade is the best way to prepare cuisines, especially Korean cuisines. I have nothing against the restaurantization of Korean cuisine, but in order to prepare it properly, nothing beats homemade.

"Hey, Jeannie, I heard you were gonna go to the M.U.N. conference this weekend?" one of the boys who is eating with us, Daniel Kim, leans over towards me. "Are you gonna stay the entire weekend at a hotel or something, or what're ya gonna do?"

"I will be driving there with Antonia and another acquaintance of mine," I answer. "There is no need to buy a hotel room for it, it is not that far."

Daniel whistles. "Damn, I keep forgetting you can already drive. Man, you're so lucky, you and your friend Antonia what's-her-face, already havin' driver's licenses this early."

The other boys nod in agreement. "What I'd do to get my license early..." Daniel's friend, Nathan Kim (in case you did not know already, Koreans tend to share last names frequently without being blood-related), remarks. "Seriously, no joke, if I could just drive around anywhere I wanted..."

"Hey, you guys, the reason why Jeannie's already got her license's because her parents are gone!" Chewy indignantly speaks up. "It's not like she's like you guys where she can just rely on parents to do everything for her, you know, so shut up, geez!"

The boys immediately shut up, a wave of guilt descending upon them. Although my popularity among the middle schoolers and high schoolers is very considerable, everyone is very uneasy about my family situation.

Understandable, because they do not want to appear to be rude, but personally, I do not mind anymore. Why should I be bothered by the fact that my parents are dead? No point in being agitated by a truth that I cannot change.

But even still, I am glad that Chewy is trying to defend me.

"It's fine, Chewy," I say distinctly. "But yes, I will be going there. I assume many of you will be there too?"

Chewy, Daniel, Nathan, and few others also nod. "Yeah, we'll be there. We should hang out there, go to the panels together 'n whatever," Nathan eagerly pipes up.

"Perhaps," I nod slowly, and I tip my bowl up to drink the soup broth, which is my favorite part of the duk-guk. The perfect blend of salt, pepper, and broth - I love it. It is very refreshing.

"Jal-meokeot-soop-nida," I mutter quietly, the age-old Korean phrase that roughly translates to English as "Thank you for the food", similar to the Japanese "Gouchisousama" or "Gatsumosama", and I stand to put away my tray.

"Oh, Jeannie, you're done?" Chewy notes, noticing me stand up from my chair. "Are you gonna go home now?"

I nod curtly. "I have things to do."

"Oh, okay," she says, but I can sense a tinge of disappointment in her voice. I look back at her face, and I confirm it - Chewy looks a little down, as if she was hoping I had time after church.

"Is there something you were planning, Chewy?" I ask her, and her head lifts right back up, rejuvenated and still hopeful.

"Yeah, um, I thought maybe we could go out to get some doughnuts from the Krispy Kreme on PCH," she replies. PCH is the acronym everyone around here gives the street called Pacific Coast Highway, which is essentially a de-glorified highway that winds all up and down the coast of California.

"I'm sorry, I cannot go with you today," I shake my head, feeling a bit guilty that I cannot fulfill my friend's little wish. "But since we will be at the convention together next Sunday, we could go out for dinner then."

Chewy's eyes light up. "Yeah, that sounds good, actually," she happily nods. "Text me later about it, 'k?"

I wave at her and everyone. "Yes, I will. Bye, everyone." Everyone bids me farewell, and I exit the cafeteria and make my way to the car.

* * *

Some fifteen minutes later, I am sitting at my desk, waiting for the SSD drives to quickly load the operating systems and allow me to check my email. Kyuubey had informed me when I came back home that I should expect a contact message from Miss Mami Tomoe in my email, so that is what I am doing.

"Hey yo, Hae Eun, ya want some apples?" Antonia pokes her head in my room. "I'm gonna cut some for myself, so I figured I'd ask you too."

I nod without looking back at her. "Yes, please. Red, or green?"

"Green."

"Excellent, thank you."

I prefer green apples over red.

I pop open my email, and sure enough, I have an email from a Japanese name, the kanji spelling out _Tomoe Mami_. Well, her first name is not kanji, but instead katakana. I open it, and I begin reading the rather lengthy message.

* * *

_"Dear Miss Jeannie Baek,  
_

_"Greetings, my name is Mami Tomoe. I apologize for this very short notice, and I can explain this situation to you in its entirety. My school, Mitakihara Middle School, just only recently opened a branch of the Model United Nations organization, and I was one of the first to join it, for its enrollment is currently only available to seniors here. Because the club only recently opened, we did not have adequate time to prepare a proper school trip to this upcoming convention, and the club advisor, Ms. Saotome, informed us that the club members would have to pay for travel expenses ourselves. Unfortunately, when I tried to reserve a hotel room, I was told that there were no more available hotel rooms in the city of Los Angeles, so I instead had to ask Kyuubey to see if there were any other Magical Girls in the area on whom I could rely on for room and board. So I thank you for being so hospitable towards me._

_"I will arrive this coming Monday at 10:33 PM at Los Angeles International Airport, at Terminal 5. This is my phone number listed below, so if there are any emergencies or occurrences I must be informed about, please feel free to use it. My return flight back to Japan will be on the following Monday, at 11:52 AM, at Terminal 12. I apologize for the extended stay - this is also due to the fact that this trip was quite the last-minute event, and there were no other airplane tickets available._

_"I look forward to making your acquaintance,_

_"巴 マミ  
"Mami Tomoe"  
_

* * *

I gaze at the picture that Mami had attached to the email, along with her itinerary. A tiny bit shorter than me, blonde, drill hair, warm smile. I can already tell that Mami is the kind of person who would love to sit with you over a few cups of tea and chat in a garden for hours on end.

"Here's your apples," Antonia says behind me, gently putting a small plate of green apple slices and a small fork on the desk next to my mousepad. "What're you lookin' at?" Curious, she leans in to get a better look at my monitor.

"An email," I reply, "from Mami Tomoe."

"Ooooohhh," she says, intrigued. "I thought she'd be some fob with that Asian English kinda deal, but looks like she's pretty fluent."

I nod. "For a middle schooler in Japan, her English is excellent," I agree. "But I do think she is not entirely Japanese. I do believe she is only half."

"Hm? What makes ya say that?"

I point at the email, where it has Mami's electronic signature. "You see the way she addresses herself by her first name? She has that written in katakana. That implies that her first name is not Japanese and in fact some Western name, foreign to the Japanese language. Plus, her blonde hair is a strong giveaway as well."

Antonia scoffs. "But plenty of people have different colored hair, what's so significant 'bout that? Not like we're any different."

"Just an example. And besides, our hair colors are very unnatural, whereas Mami's is natural."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Antonia shuffles out of my room, leaving me alone to type a reply message to Mami Tomoe, entirely in Japanese.

* * *

_"To Tomoe Mami,  
_

_"Konnichiwa. As you can see, I am perfectly fluent in Japanese. If you wish to speak with me in Japanese, I do not mind. My roommate, however, is only fluent in English, so I do hope that your English speaking skills are as talented as your writing skills._

_"I look forward to meeting you on Monday. Please remember that Southern California is much different than Japan, so do not bother packing any heavy clothing, as it can get rather hot during the day, with the heat possibly carrying into the night. If in the event that some cold weather should settle in, you need not worry, as all your needs will be provided for.  
_

_"Without further ado, welcome to America._

_"Best regards,_

_"백해은_

_"Hae Eun Jeannie Baek_

_"P.S.: Please call me Jeannie."_

* * *

As soon as I send my email through, I hear another knock on my door.

"Come in."

Antonia walks in with two bag of spicy shrimp crackers, offering one to me wordlessly, which I nod to and catch when she tosses it over to me. She plops down onto my bed as I turn my swivel chair to face her.

"May I help you, Antonia?"

"Not really help. We need to talk."

"About?"

"Mami Tomoe."

"Hm? What about her?"

Antonia sits up. "Last night, after you went to sleep, I asked Kyuubey to show me what this Mami Tomoe girl's like."

"What did you find out about her?"

"Well, I mean, she's a powerful Magical Girl too, 'n her powers kinda mimic yours in that she can spawn mass muskets, but that's not the - "

I raise my eyebrows. "Mass muskets?"

"Yeah, like, you know how you can make anything? She can do the same thing, except only with muskets."

"Interesting. Continue."

"But yeah, that ain't the point. Kyuubey told me that the reason why he wants her to come here's because he knows Mami's emotional state is pretty much shot to hell, 'n if she stays with us, she might find out about the truth of Magical Girls. And if she does, she might take it too hard, 'n you know what happens from there."

I nod. "Kyuubey wants us to eliminate her in that event."

"Exactly. Fuck that bitch..."

But the muskets power intrigues me. "Can you show me her power?"

Antonia leans over from my bed. "Gimme your hand."

I do, and she takes it. My eyes are flooded with visions of Mami Tomoe, and I can clearly see her power in action.

"Okay, that is enough." Antonia takes her hand away, and I lift my own. A percussion-lock musket, just like Mami Tomoe's, falls into my hand, and I hold it, analyzing it.

"She uses 40-inch barrel, 56-inch percussion-lock, rifled muskets accurate up to 500 meters with a muzzle velocity of 1,000 feet per second, firing .58 caliber rounds for increased accuracy and range. These are her standard weapons."

Though, I must say, this design is quite something.

"I wonder why she never uses bayonets...?" I think aloud.

"Bayonets? But why'd she ever need 'em?" Antonia asks.

I shrug. "For close quarters engagements? Perhaps she has never needed close range melee power..."

"Why would she? I mean, all she needs to do is spawn muskets on muskets on muskets on muskets..." Antonia drones on and on. "...until everything's got at least a dozen bulletholes in 'em."

"Indeed, though, it would be a pain should a Magical Girl of her caliber turn into a witch," I note.

"That a pun?"

"Huh? A pun?"

"Yeah. Like, you know, caliber, like, skill of a person, and like, gun _caliber_?"

"Oh, you're right, I did make an unintentional pun. How clever of me."

"Well, the best ones are the ones that you make without knowing, so..."

"Then what shall we do about her?"

Antonia sits up again. "Save her, duh. I for hell sure ain't gonna let Kyuubey get his way this time. Plus, you said you wanted to save other Magical Girls if you could, like you did to me. This's a perfect opportunity right here, ain't it?"

"I suppose so. Just the biggest challenge is how to have her accept the truth of the world of Magical Girls without breaking her will."

"I'm sure we can find a way..."

I look down at the musket that sits on my lap, in my hands. "...although making friends is not my trademark by any means..."

"Aw, that's bullshit, you have plenty of friends! Everyone knows you!" Antonia says cheerfully.

"...Antonia, there is a difference between _knowing_ friends and _making _friends."

"There's also a difference 'tween sittin' on your bum waiting for people to come to you and goin' out there 'n gettin' to know people too, y'know."

I face back to my triple computer monitor configuration. "It is not as if I _want_ such people to come to me."

"Then why bother wantin' to save other Magical Girls?" Antonia tussles her hair a bit, straightening out some bent strands. "Only way you're gonna save 'em is to get to know 'em and make 'em your friends 'fore it's too late. I mean, that sounds super fuckin' cheesy 'n corny, but I mean, that's the only way without actually killin' 'em off. Look at what you did for me; now we're best friends. I'm gonna say that it's either we make real good friends with Mami Tomoe when she comes over, or she ain't gonna go back alive - at least, not in one piece."

"Her mind may not go back in one piece."

"That's what I'm saying. I mean, we could have her over and not once ever mention the fact that witches actually come from Magical Girls, the fact that we all have a witch livin' inside each 'n every one of our Soul Gems. We could just do that, y'know."

"And what are the chances of that ever happening?"

"Quite a lot, actually," Antonia replies as she pops another slice of apple into her mouth. "It's not so much a matter of _if _she'll find out, it's more the matter of _if we want to let her find out_."

Antonia has a point. Magical Girls typically live their lives without ever knowing the truth of the origins of the witches they fight, and if they do discover that truth, they generally do not survive for much longer, either because they uncover that fact just before death, or they allow their witches to devour them due to the despair of knowing that they are who they fight. So technically speaking, Mami Tomoe could spend this entire week here and fly away none the wiser.

But would I personally allow that?

The gung-ho military part of me is telling me to suck it up and let her figure it out on her own. That is what I had to do, after all. Why cannot she do the same? We are practically the same age, the same grade should we attend the same educational system. If she does not possess the mental fortitude that is required of Magical Girls, then so be it - it is amazing that she has even managed to make it this far, but unfortunately for her, she probably does not have much time left if she does not have what it takes to be strong.

Not that I know what that means myself.

And that is exactly why I cannot follow the military me that I was three years before. I am no longer a soldier - only a fresh new high schooler with the skills of a military operative. I do not know if Appa wanted me to keep fighting or continue his goal for revenge, but I know that he wanted me to lead a normal life for once upon his absence. And after meeting and befriending Antonia Ainsley, who helped me regain the value of human emotion and compassion, I can no longer turn a blind eye to the plights of other fellow Magical Girls.

Mami Tomoe is the first opportunity of mine for the last two years that I will be able to potentially save a Magical Girl, just as I had done for Antonia. Perhaps there is nothing in store for me in terms of personal material gain, but I refuse to let this chance pass.

I can only hope that Mami Tomoe can accept the truth of the witches that we all fight without becoming one herself.

* * *

"Hae Eun, I'ma go to the gym tonight since there ain't any witches, 'k?" Antonia pokes her head in my room again. I glance at the clock at the bottom-right corner of my screen, and it reads 18:02 PM.

"Okay," I nod. "Drive safely."

"I will, I will," she waves her hand and heads off to the garage. Kyuubey jumps onto my bed as I hear the distant droning of the automatic garage door.

"So I hear that Mami Tomoe will arrive late tomorrow night?" Kyuubey asks.

"Yes, she will," I respond. "We will have to go pick her up tomorrow. But let me ask you, Kyuubey, how close is Mami Tomoe to becoming a witch?"

Kyuubey sighs. "In the context of your knowledge of witches, Mami Tomoe is virtually at the brink. Recently, Mami Tomoe has been able to make friends with several of her juniors at her school, something that she evidently held a desire to do."

"How many of her friends are Magical Girls?"

"I figured you would ask that. Among the friends she has, currently three of them are Magical Girls."

I narrow my eyes. "And how many more to follow?"

"I am interested in another girl who seems to have a great energy potential to become a Magical Girl, but that is all so far."

I nod. "I can see why she is close to the tipping point."

"Oh? Do you, now?"

"Yes, I do. According to your words, Mami Tomoe holds a desire to make friends at her school. From that, I can assume that the cause for such a desire stems from the fact that she is lonely and does not have very many, if at all, friends to begin with, presumably a direct side effect of her work as a Magical Girl. Girls of our age tend to be very social entities, and with the added pressures of school where cliques and tightly knit groups of boys and girls who know each other quite intimately exist, it is extremely likely that Mami Tomoe is just simply lonely. Basing my judgment off that assumption, Mami Tomoe is, in my opinion, very strong emotionally for now, because she now has friends with whom to socialize and fight, seeing that three of them are also fellow Magical Girls. But the one truth that can shatter her entire illusion of emotional strength is the truth of the witches."

Kyuubey nods. "You never cease to amaze me, Jeannie Baek, displaying such wisdom for your age," he comments. "Yes, in fact, that is basically the case here concerning Mami Tomoe. You can say she is a ticking time bomb, and the fuse is ready to be lit by a single witch."

"Then we will simply have to defuse that bomb before it can even become lit," I return.

"Oh, will you? I understand that you have saved the Soul Gem of Antonia Ainsley two years prior, and I also happen to know that Antonia Ainsley also shares that same desire of yours to attempt to save Mami Tomoe. But she is far beyond saving now; I simply recommend you to eliminate her when the time comes."

I shake my head. "We have killed enough witches," I mutter. "No witch we have faced thus far has posed even the slightest of challenges to either me or Antonia. It will be more interesting and fulfilling instead to save a Magical Girl from becoming a witch than to simply let her turn and kill her."

Kyuubey mimics me, shaking his head as well. "I do not understand this 'fulfillment' you speak of. Why are you trying to deny the inevitable? Mami Tomoe is past the line of 'saving', now that she has acquired what she has always wanted. Perhaps if Mami Tomoe had never managed to make friends, then and only then could she have a chance to accept the truth of Magical Girls in her already vulnerable emotional state. But she is now in a position in which her emotional state, if tampered with at all to any degree, will come crumbling down like a house of cards."

"Because I fucking can, Kyuubey," I turn to him, making sure he can clearly see my magic eyes so that he knows I am serious. "I do not doubt your judgment, Kyuubey, but Antonia is correct in saying that oftentimes, you are one fucking manipulative faggot. I have tolerated it in the cases where I, too, know that there is nothing else I can do. But you are trying to portray this situation as hopeless for all sides when in reality it is not. Mami Tomoe is not yet a witch; she is a Magical Girl. And the fact that she has gained the blessings of friendship, much as I had with Antonia Ainsley two years ago, motivates me all the more to prevent her Soul Gem from deteriorating even further."

Kyuubey sighs one final time. "Alright, then, so be it," he says promptly. "I am powerless to change your opinion, knowing who you are. You may try to save her if you'd like, since there are many more witches out there that I may use to further my objective. Just know that your chances of success are statistically too low to even attempt."

"Statistics? What statistics?"

"This is obviously not the first time that a situation like this has arisen, I hope you realize. Or did you think that you were the first one of your kind to have that kind of mentality?"

"It's not that I thought I was the first; it's that I believe that there is a definite chance," I tell him. "Perhaps there have been failures in the past."

I turn my chair back to him, my hands crossed under my chest.

"But does it look like I give a damn about what happened in the past?"

Kyuubey blinks. "You should."

"But I do not."

"Then what about your own past with your father? What of that, then, if you say you care not for the past?"

"I do not care about that, either. My father is dead. I have already spent my fair share of time mourning, and I have already accepted that he will never come back. I loved my father, do not get me wrong. But now, the time for sorrow is passed. It is time to look forward and see what I can do to teach others what Antonia taught me."

Kyuubey cocks his head. "What did she teach you?"

"Something that you and your kind will never understand."

"That doesn't answer my question, I'm afraid."

"Good, because it shouldn't. Antonia taught me gratefulness. Good luck understanding it, Incubator."


	9. Welcome to the NSA

It's lunchtime.

We're hangin' out with our usual crew in the middle of the outdoor amphitheater. They use this amphitheater whenever they're holding lunchtime related shit, or during the nighttime Coffee Houses, which's what we like to call the evening student gatherings where all we do is fuck around 'n drink coffee by the liter.

I dunno how some kids manage to get high off caffeine, but apparently that's a thing. Pussies.

"Yeesh, y'all notice how just 'bout _everyone's_ talkin' 'bout that big ol' M.U.N. conference that's comin' up?" Matty says with a weird look on his face. "People actin' like it's a big fuckin' deal or some shit. Makes me feel dumb, hahaha!"

"That's 'cause you _are_," Haley jab her thumb at him, and we all laugh.

"Actually, how many of you guys are going?" Lucy asks. "I thought about it, but I have violin seminars during then, so..."

"I'm goin' with Jeannie," I mention. "Actually, tonight, we gotta go pick up a girl from the airport who's also attending, but she couldn't get a hotel room reserved in time 'cause apparently her M.U.N. club arranged her trip last minute."

"Whoa, really?" Jonah's ears perk up, as they usually do whenever he hears us talk about a new girl. God, that guy...nothing against him, but he seriously needs to keep his own goddamn hormones in check, seriously. "Wait, wait, hold up, stop the debates! I wanna hear more 'bout this new girl!"

I throw my plastic black fork at him, and it bounces off his forehead. "Stop tryin' ta be Clinton, dumbass, this ain't got nothin' ta do with you!"

"Owww - then why the fuck mention her to begin with? ! You _knew_ I'd get interested, you brought this on yerself!" Jonah cries back, rubbing his forehead.

Hae Eun mindfully chews on her own food, which is the same as mine: Japanese-style obento with sweet rice, octopus, shrimp tempura, and teriyaki chicken with sauteed broccoli. "She is a foreign student. We were contacted by her school to give her a place to stay for the week."

"Whoa, really? Where she from?" Matty asks.

"Japan. From a town called Mitakihara."

"Whoaaaaa, a Japanese schoolgirl? ! Can I meet her, please? !" Jonah jumps back into the action, but I shove my palm into his face.

"Getcher boner outta here, you dipshit! She's only staying for a week, it ain't like she's gonna stay here for a month 'r somethin', at least not 'til prom!"

As I keep Jonah pinned down, Haley speaks up. "But she's comin' over so early, and the conference isn't even gonna start until Friday. What's up with that?"

Hae Eun looks at her. "As Antonia mentioned, her trip was planned at the eleventh hour, so to speak. This was her only available plane ticket - it seems that all others were already booked."

Haley clicks her tongue, munching on her own lunch. "Damn, that sucks," she remarks. "What's her name? And do you know if she'll attend our school just for a little bit?"

"I have already contacted the administration office, and they have no problem if she follows my schedule since she is only staying for a week. And her name is Mami Tomoe."

"Mami? As in, like, Mommy, like, the mom, Mami?" Lucy asks, her head cocked in wonder. "What a name...it's kinda funny..."

Hae Eun shrugs. "Funny or not, that is apparently her name." She goes back to eating again, meaning she won't be talkin' again anytime soon.

"That's cool, then," Matty comments. "But, like, is everyone from our school gonna be all together, or is it like some do-whatever-the-hell-you-want kinda shit? Except for the main events where everyone's gotta be there, 'course."

"I think it's what you said, Matty," Jonah says, though with difficulty since I've got him in a chokehold. "We can just fuck around 'til they call us in for the most important panels 'n shit, 'specially the main debate on Saturday."

"Wait, only me, Hae Eun, 'n Lucy're parta M.U.N., da fack're you two talkin' 'bout the conference?" I holler. I just forgot that Haley, Matty, and Jonah have no reason to be talking about the conference since they never signed up for M.U.N. to begin with.

"Well, the convention's gonna be open to everyone, duh," Matty replies, shrugging. "It ain't like only the MUN guys're goin'. Haven't you seen all the teachers offering extra credit to people who go to the conference? Our school's really into it, by the looks of it."

"Yeah, I've noticed that too," Haley nods. "I mean, maybe since it's 'cause it's such a big gathering, y'know? This conference usually switches locations every year, so this'll be like a once-in-a-while opportunity for the school. I mean, if you put it that way, I guess."

"But fess up, you two, you're only goin' to check out the girls, aren't you?" I sneer at the boys, and they proudly lift their chins high.

"Fuck yeah, we are!" they exclaim, and Lucy and Haley laugh at their almost-choreographed antics.

As I eat the rest of my lunch and watch them talk more about the upcoming MUN conference, I rattle my thoughts in my mind.

_"Antonia, do you mind talking like this right now?"_

Oh, looks like Hae Eun wants to talk privately, using telecommunication 'n all.

_"No, not really, what's up?"_

_"I assume you have realized by now what a conference of this magnitude means."_

_"Oooooh, yeah. That's pretty fuckin' obvious, duh."_

_"I'm glad you know. The potential of meeting another Magical Girl whose Soul Gem has deteriorated to the point of witchdom is extremely high...and should it be a powerful witch, I do not know what will happen to those 50,000 students in attendance."_

_"Talk 'bout maintenance fees."_

Hae Eun sips on some Capri Sun, which for some reason she really likes. _"We will most likely have the support of another Magical Girl in our presence, that being Mami Tomoe, should she be willing to cooperate with us. Given her disposition, I do predict that she would. But even then, only three Magical Girls, despite our combined power, is not enough to protect fifty thousand people."_

_"It can't be helped, Hae Eun. Like you said, it's gonna be damn near impossible to look through freakin' fifty thousand people just to find a potential witch. There'll be casualties for sure if one does pop up."_

_"But we can minimize the damage that it can deal."_

_"So? Your point?"_

Hae Eun stays silent for a moment.

_"My point is that we must be on guard at all times. That is all."_

_"Heh. Tell me somethin' I don't know."_

_"Your Irish accent is bleeding through."_

_"Shut it, you damn chink, it's Welsh."_

Hae Eun reaches over and pokes me hard in the side. "Ow! H-Hey, what was that for?" I hiss at her playfully, and she simply breaks a smile back at me.

Lunch is almost over.

* * *

The classroom phone rings in our English 1 Honors class for fifth period, which catches Mrs. Foulk's attention.

"Oh, please excuse me..." Mrs. Foulk says, quickly going over to the corner of the room where the phone hangs. I look over at Hae Eun, who's sitting across from me due to arranged seating. I can see her eyes scrolling back and forth, back and forth, back and forth over our literature book. Damn, she reads fast.

"Yes?...oh, okay...sure, sure." Mrs. Foulk looks over at Hae Eun. "Jeannie, dear, you've got a call..."

Looking up from her book, Hae Eun stands to take the phone. I see our teacher whisper something to her ear, and Hae Eun nods, clearing her throat.

_"Who is it?" _I ask Hae Eun telepathically before she starts talking.

_"Mami Tomoe's teacher," _she responds quickly before beginning to speak in fluent and flawless Japanese.

"What the...? She knows Japanese?" I hear Mark Ichikawa, a half-Japanese, half-white guy who sits behind me. "Thought she was Korean, going by her name..."

"She knows more languages than you can count with your fingers, bro," I whisper to him over my shoulder so that Mrs. Foulk doesn't overhear. She doesn't like her students talking in class. "She's half Jap, c'mon, man."

"Hey, it ain't like I was supposed to know that," he whispers back. "It's not like I live with her like you do."

I break out a small grin as Mrs. Foulk keeps conducting the class as per usual. Hae Eun stays at the phone for some ten minutes before finally hanging up and returning to her seat.

_"What'd she keep you for? You didn't even talk that much," _I tell Hae Eun when she sits back down.

_"Mami Tomoe's teacher is quite strange."_

_"Hm? How so?"_

_"She kept discussing the merits of making either sunny side up eggs or scrambled eggs for her boyfriend in the morning, and how the Mayans' predictions about the end of the world would come true if she is not able to find a date within two weeks."_

I give a what-the-fuck look at Hae Eun. _"...what?"_

_"I am not kidding."_

_"I know you aren't. But still, what the fuck."_

_"Indeed."_

_"But did she say ANYTHING important at all?"_

_"She did mention that Mami Tomoe is currently on her flight here to LAX. Flights between Japan and America take a long time, you know."_

_"I'm aware of that. But besides that, anything?"_

_"No. She just called to make sure that I knew she was on her way."_

_"Oh...but wait, how the hell did she even know where to reach you? !"_

_"I gave Mami Tomoe the phone number of the school. Ms. Saotome probably knows enough English to navigate through the school phone directory."_

_"I guess..."_

We listen to our classmates reading out passages from our literature book.

_"Wanna go get some cake after school?"_

_"Okay."_

I'm lookin' forward to getting some orange creme cake, myself.

* * *

After fifth period, since neither of us have a sixth period that would've been our Physical Education class (we opted out of those, seeing how we both get more than enough exercise fighting witches but can't tell anyone, heh), we drive for our local mall, where a little bakery and dessert factory's been operating for who knows how long. After we buy our quaint little cakes, we sit at the table with our plastic forks and start eating.

"Mmm..." Hae Eun can't resist the taste of these cakes either. I can see her cheeks blush a little bit with the perfect blend of sweetness and fluffiness inside the cake. I can't help but smile at the look on her face.

"You've always loved these cakes, haven't you?" I reach over and poke her cheek left cheek. "I used to see you come in here alone back in middle school, y'know."

She guides another forkful of blueberry swirl cake into her mouth. "Really?"

"Yeah, I was with my old friends from middle school, though. We'd pass by here to go to T.J. Max or somethin', and I'd always see you either walkin' in here or eating something."

"I see." She breaks out another smile as she savors the warm, comforting taste of the cake. I fork out a piece for myself in my orange creme cake and put it in my mouth, and the lovely, cool orange candy fluffy taste melts wonderfully on my tongue.

"Mmmm~!" I can't help but giggle. Man, there's something 'bout these cakes that make you so warm and fluffy inside, just like themselves. I guess it's really like that ol' saying goes, "you are what you eat".

"Hey, Hae Eun, you know?" I say after eating about half of my cake. "Funny thing was, back then, I kinda wondered why you ate this alone by yourself."

Hae Eun looks up at me, a bit of cake stuck on her lower lip. "Hm? What do you mean?"

I reach over and dab at her lip, eating the tuft of cake that was stuck there. "Like, back then, I knew 'bout this place too. Me 'n my friends used to come here after you went, 'cause by the time we were done shoppin' and stuff, you'd already gone. I always wondered why you'd eat something so good like this alone. Like, it didn't make any sense to me, and I guess it still doesn't. Personally, I can't imagine eating this by myself..."

Hae Eun kinda gives me a blank stare, then she giggles.

I've mentioned that Hae Eun has a really beautiful smile, I think. If I haven't, then fuck me. But Hae Eun doesn't smile or laugh a lot, but when she does, it feels like she can cure cancer. It's so...pure. Unlike my laughs and my smiles, which're usually infected with some form of sarcasm or sadism, Hae Eun's are so goddamn pure.

When she's not also laughing with blood flyin' around everywhere.

But this one's her good one. The one that warms your heart, the one that makes me wanna hug her and cuddle her all over.

"It seems you had an interest in me far before I was even aware," she jokes with me, wiping a tear from her un-monocled eye. "I suppose I am fulfilling your wish now, eating with you."

I feel my cheeks redden up a little. "Yeah, you are, I s'pose," I mutter with a smile, eating another bite.

"But you know," Hae Eun continues, "I did not mind eating this by myself. I was able to fully enjoy this treat without interruption. It is simply amazing...but I do not mean that in a negative way, though."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I didn't mean that, like, I didn't mean that as in I didn't want you to be here eating with me."

Fuck, cuteness of this level should be a crime.

"Well, I mean, if it made you happy, I guess that's fine," I say. "I guess you could say it was more my own kinda selfishness for wantin' to eat cake with you one day, even if I didn't realize it at the time, haha."

I look down at our small table, and I realize Hae Eun's already finished her cake when I've only finished like half of mine. "Whoa, you ate that super quick," I marvel.

Hae Eun gives me a bashful smile. "I am a fast eater...I try to take my time with these, but...I love them too much, ehehe." She stands up from her chair.

"You gonna get another?" I ask her, and she moves to my side.

"Mhm," she says, and suddenly, she swoops down and kisses me right on the right corner of my mouth.

"W-Wha - " I start stammering, but she grins at me.

"You had some stuck on your mouth, so I paid you back," she says with another one of her coy smiles, and she walks back to the counter to order another cake.

Geez, that girl. She's such a tease to me, and she knows it.

We spend another hour or so just sittin' there, talkin' and eatin' cake. It's moments like these that I really enjoy being with Hae Eun. Just being girls, just being friends. I enjoy fighting by her side as Magical Girls, don't get me wrong, but just being girls with her is even more fun. It's when I get to see Hae Eun just being a normal girl, just being a sweet high school girl who's doing her best enjoying her life as much as she can the way she sees fit.

I get to see her be happy. So I'm happy. That's all there is to it.

"Hey, we should get Mami a cake for when she comes," I suggest to Hae Eun as we get up to leave, having eaten our fill of delicious cake.

"I do not disagree, but what should we get her?" Hae Eun wonders out loud. "Do you have an idea, Antonia?"

I think about what Mami would possibly like. Given her looks, personality, style, among other traits...I scan the shelves and counters of the shop to pick out a suitable one for her.

"How about lemon cheesecake?" I point at the one on display on one of the lower shelves, and Hae Eun nods, promptly waving the employee behind the counter over to order it. As we wait for a fresh one to be baked, I check my phone for the time, and it reads 3:49 PM.

Once we get our cake and walk out, guess who's there to meet us.

"Hello, you two," Kyuubey greets us, struttin' out from behind one of the rocks that makes up a nearby fountain. "I have managed to find a witch that is currently still in development, but it is quite far away from here. Though, that being said, it is quite close to the airport that you will be picking up Mami Tomoe from, so I suggest that you go defeat it with the assistance of Mami Tomoe."

I hiss at Kyuubey. "Yer plan on makin' Mami a witch ain't gonna work, bitch! Stop yappin' 'n we'll take care 'a that fuckin' witch well before Mami even gets here!"

Hae Eun nods, making me feel much more comfortable that she's agreeing with me. "Mami's assistance will not be needed," she asserts as we walk towards our car in the parking lot. "We will go seek it out before her flight arrives, and we will defeat it in time to pick up Mami on our way back."

Kyuubey nods. "That works as well. Where are you headed now?"

"Home," Hae Eun states as we reach our car. "Would you like a ride back?"

"No thank you," the furball says, watching us climb into the Chrysler. "I am currently scouting for potential Magical Girls in hopes that this town can yield more, but unfortunately, as I have mentioned before, the quality of candidates is very low..."

"Cya, dipshit," I hiss at him as I slam the door in his face and rev up the engine to back the car up and out of the parking lot. I really tried running him over with the left front tire, but there wasn't enough room. I drive the car back home.

"Why does that lil' prick keep tryin' ta look for Magical Girls in this town? Jus' 'bout everyone's dumb here. Either that, 'r they're so goddamn spoiled that they ain't got a need or desire for 'magic'. And _he_ thinks human emotion is pointless...what a hypocrite..."

"That is no hypocrisy that Kyuubey demonstrates," Hae Eun corrects me. "That is effort he is exemplifying towards his kind's ultimate goal. To him, any additional Magical Girl, no matter how weak or strong, will yield energy that he can use once said Magical Girl becomes a witch. That, and no matter how spoiled a town's girls may be, there will always be a few who are not happy that may become targets for Kyuubey...and consequently turn into witches before we know about them."

"And that's what pisses me off the most," I growl, nearly bumping the car horn on the wheel as I slap the side of the steering wheel. "Like, fuckin' seriously, man, it's one thing to kill witches, but it's another thing entirely to go 'round killin' witches knowin' that they used to be Magical Girls just like us."

"But they are not," Hae Eun points out. "They are not the true representations of the Magical Girls who gave birth to them. Besides, both you and I relish in their defeat, no? We both share a bloodlust towards murdering witches. That has not changed since we discovered that Magical Girls are the true source of witches in this world."

"So basically, ignorance is bliss?" I scowl. "Man, yeah, let's just think of more ways to screw over us Magical Girls, shall we? Holy fuck."

We drive home.

* * *

Some five or so hours later, once it's evening, we're in the vicinity of Los Angeles International Airport, or L.A.X., as us locals like to call it. We're just a bit north of the actual airport itself, searchin' for the witch's portal.

"What time is it now, Antonia?" Hae Eun asks me as she's walking around with Kyuubey on her head.

"8:41 PM," I say back. "We've got, what, an hour or so?"

She nods. "Just about."

I notice that she ain't got that scarf she's got on wrapped tightly enough around her neck, so I walk up beside her and rewrap her scarf for her. Even though it's barely autumn and we don't have to worry about cold just yet, I still like to fuss over Hae Eun's health.

"...thank you," Hae Eun gives me a soft look as thanks for doing that for her. Urgh, the cuteness, must have insulin shots.

"Hey yo, Kyuubey, you sure it was here?" I ask the stupid asshole sitting on Hae Eun's head right now. "We've been walkin' lookin' fer this thing for a good half hour now. The hell's goin' on?"

"It is common knowledge that witches can be very elusive, Antonia Ainsley," he says back to me. "Finding them may be troublesome at times, but once you two find them, it wouldn't matter, no?"

"Fuck no, it wouldn't," I growl with a devious smile. "I'm just tired 'a walkin' around, is all."

Then, I stop. My sixth sense's pricklin' me again, tellin' me that...the portal should be...

"Behind us. We missed it," I suddenly call out, turning around to see exactly where. We're walkin' on the sidewalk of some shady town behind the airport, and the portal should be in the middle of some run-down house's front yard.

"Lead us to it, Antonia," Hae Eun says, her soft countenance gone and replaced with her business look - the look of a Magical Girl about to slay a witch.

I swing my legs over the low wooden fence and approach where the portal should be, and there it is - we missed it 'cause the dark hologram blended in with the darkness just perfectly. Either coincidence, or this witch's really tryin' her fuckin' butt off tryin' ta stay hidden.

We slip on through. Again, the sickeningly trippy atmosphere swallows us in again, and we're standin' in a field of...

...dandelions...?

I say that with a question mark because these...dandelions...are all oozing blood.

At least, I _think_ that's blood.

We get changed into our Magical Girl costumes. The dandelions around us uproot themselves 'n start dancin' around us as we hear a creepy lil' girl's voice start singin' through the bleak air.

"Follow the voice," I tell Hae Eun, the information parlayed to me by my handy-dandy sixth sense. "It'll take us to the witch."

"This way, then," Hae Eun says, and her hands already hold an H&K G36-K as she turns to her left and follows the direction from which the singing voice's coming from. Problem is, once we start walkin', we find ourselves wadin' through taller 'n taller 'n taller grass 'n brush. Reminds me of when we took a field trip down to Madrona Marsh 'n saw all those reeds there.

"Hae Eun, can ya do somethin' 'bout these reeds 'n grass? Don't think I wanna deal with 'em right now," I call over to Hae Eun, who, due to her short height, is now probably hidden by all this tallgrass.

"Jump, Antonia," is all she says, and I know what she's gonna do. I jump, and all I hear is a loud _whomp!_ and I'm sittin' on the 120mm smoothbore barrel of a Leopard 2A-5 main battle tank, and Hae Eun's sittin' on top of the hatch, next to the MG3-A1 mounted machine gun, totin' her G36-K. She's feelin' German today, apparently.

"Much better," she says. She musta been hella annoyed by this grass too, and the tank we're riding on rolls over the grass for us as we drive on toward the creepy lil' singin' voice for a few minutes. Then, from my angle, I can see a circle in the tallgrass.

"We're comin' near it, Hae Eun," I shout behind me over the rumble of the tank engine, and she nods.

"It seems we have some followers behind us," she yells back, stickin' her thumb over her shoulder. I peek out behind the dust trail that the tank's kickin' up, and the dandelions cryin' blood apparently've been stalkin' us this entire way. Hm, even my sixth sense didn't pick that up.

The tank breaks through the last of the tallgrass. This crop circle's a lot bigger than I initially anticipated - it's the size of our school outdoor amphitheater, just about. We hop off the tank just as it makes a perfect path poking into the circle, and Hae Eun parks it there so that its guns point towards the center of the circle.

There's a doll sittin' on a small table in the middle of the crop circle. It, too, is cryin' tears of blood just like the dandelions that follow us into the crop circle. They don't seem like they're strong enough to fight just yet, since we stumbled on this witch in its development stages, so they're just doin' their best to annoy us.

"It's not incubated 'r anything," I mention, looking at the doll. That's the witch we're starin' at right now - nothin' shady 'bout this witch. "We can just kill it right now."

Hae Eun nods and aligns her secondary red-dot reflex sight on the doll's head, pulling the trigger.

Wait a minute, where'd the doll go?

"Hae Eun, get back, something's really off!" I yell, and Hae Eun gets it immediately too as we retreat to the safety of the tank, whose main battery now swivels around on auto-target, actively searching for the witch. The doll ain't there on the table anymore once Hae Eun shot it - or tried shooting it. I don't think the bullet hit, and I don't think the witch is as easy ta kill as we'd thought.

Then, the dandelions behind us melt into splashes of blood, and before we can react properly, the entire ground gets covered in a thin film of blood, kinda like before when we were fightin' that alcohol witch. I try to jump behind me onto the tank so that I'm not in contact with the blood, but I can't get my feet off it. It's like some goddamn adhesive. I try to scrape away at this congested blood with my chainsaw blade, but even though it cuts through it super easily, it just latches back onto my feet too quickly for me to lift my feet far enough away to get away.

"Dude, what the fuck - is - wrong - with - this - shit - " I stammer, pounding my weapon against the ground. God, this shit's real fuckin' annoying.

"Antonia, I do think we have a bigger problem on our hands," Hae Eun says in her usual serious and calm voice. I look forward, and I just gape at what I see.

A battalion of those French dolls just like the one Hae Eun tried to shoot are marchin' outta the tallgrass in front of us, but...

...they all got these fuckin' insane-lookin', creepy-ass motherfuckin' appendages comin' out from their backs. Arms of blood from all their backs.

What the fuck is this, Dead Space?

I hear the sudden reports of the assault rifle in Hae Eun's hands as she starts openin' fire. The tank behind us follows suit, its secondary machine gun turret belchin' rounds at the dolls. But the bullets don't seem like they're doin' much, 'cause even though blood 'n limbs fly to pieces, more 'n more come pilin' outta the tallgrass like there's infinite French dolls with those weird arm thingies protrudin' from their backs, but at least the bullet barrage that they're givin' 'em are keepin' 'em at bay, I feel. I use that time to think about how I can free myself from this damn gooey blood.

"Let's try this, then..."

I unlace my combat boots and jump out of them, grabbin' onto the nearby main gun battery of the Leopard tank. The snaps of the bullets crack in front of me as they fly downrange to suppress the witch...whatever it is.

"Hae Eun, that ain't the witch's true body!" I scream over the blazes of the guns. "We need to look for the witch! That ain't her you're shootin'!"

"Then find her!" she screams back, changing her magazine for her G36-K assault rifle. "I am kind of busy here, use this time wisely!"

"I fuckin' know that!" I look around with a bit of desperation, trying to see if I can spot the witch from on top of the tank, trying to figure out with my sixth sense anything I can 'bout this damn witch. I look so damn dumb without my combat boots though, standin' in only my socks, God.

I watch the bullets slam into those alien-looking limbs comin' outta those dolls for a bit, and then I notice something.

They're eating the bullets.

Eating?

Huh, what?

So what if we make 'em eat something a lot worse?

"Hae Eun, cease fire, cease fire!" I holler over at her, and she does and quickly turns to me. "They're fuckin' eatin' the bullets! Try 'n make 'em eat somethin' a whole lot worse than that!"

She nods and turns back to our enemies, thinking of what she could do. She throws aside her G36-K and pops into her hands a six-barreled M-32 MS grenade launcher and snaps the sights onto the flailing limbs.

_Poom!_

_Poom!_

_Poom!_

_Poom!_

_Poom!_

_Poom!_

The thumps of the revolving cylinder spittin' out those 40mm grenades provide a real sharp contrast to the cracks and snaps of bullets, and because the grenades don't shit out sparks everywhere like the bullets did when they hit all those appendage things, we can clearly see the grenades sink into them.

They then explode. The limbs burst apart as the grenades detonate inside them, and the doll things flop over, and I can tell they're done for good.

"It's workin', Hae Eun! Just blow those things up, and we're good!"

Hae Eun pops another one of those M-32's and throws it one-handed over to me, and I catch it out of pure reflex. She's popped the cylinder outta the gun, slid the entire cylinder out, and shoved another cylinder fulla grenades back in and snapped the cylinder back into place.

"I can't kill them all on my own, I need your help!" she yells as she pops yet _another_ M-32 and starts dual-wielding those things, which for a girl her size I'm pretty sure should normally be impossible.

I've never used one of these things before, but it's got a handy dot sight, so aiming it's pretty easy, but I don't know how much recoil it's got, so I brace myself. I pull the trigger, and it's got a decent amount of kickback but nothing I can't manage.

"Yo, what'll I do for ammo? I dunno how to reload this thing!"

"I will give you more!"

"Huh? !"

"You'll see!"

As soon as I pop my sixth shot off, Hae Eun immediately drops the launcher in her left hand, makes a fully loaded launcher, and throws it over to me.

_That's_ her definition of reloading? Are you fucking kidding me?

But I don't throw a fit, I'm getting free refills here. We have at it for like, two minutes of constant thumpin' of grenade launchers and 40mm explosions and screams of those...dolls...before no more come outta the grass.

"Are we done...?" Hae Eun asks, breathing a bit heavily. She's worked up a good sweat, but she's got a whole lot of fight still in her. I just can't help but eye the bottom of her long white hair, which's really damp of red blood. "Not to mention, I cannot seem to escape this...blood..."

"Just take off your boots and jump over here," I call to her, which she does and joins me on the safety of the tank. "Those were her familiars, I think. I dunno where the witch is herself."

"Then should we stay here and wait for her to come to us?" Hae Eun asks, inserting 40mm grenades back into her empty M-32 barrels one by one. "I feel it is better if we are to seek it out."

I look around. There's freakin' miles of the same tallgrass surrounding us for miles, except for the trail of crushed tallgrass that the tank made. Where the hell could this fuckin' witch even be...

Shit. My sixth sense's tinglin' again...

Oh...shiiiiiiit. We're...we're...

...standing on it.

The tallgrass all around us, except for what the tank crushed, uproot themselves off the ground and get swept up into the air, forming this weird fuckin' butterfly. No, wait, that's a moth.

Furvus Piper Piperis. That's Latin, right? Probably Hae Eun knows what that means.

The peppered moth just hovers over us. The eye-lookin' spots on its wings just stare down at us. It's kinda spooky, to be perfectly honest.

Then, from behind it, a swarm of smaller moths come shootin' out like torrents down towards us.

"Shit, Hae Eun, watch out!" I yell, but obviously she's got a counterplan to everything like she usually does.

She pulls out a flamethrower.

Eh?

A flamethrower?

Jetstreams of napalm fire spew out all around us into the air, and the smoke and intense heat chase the moths away, preventing them from ever reaching us.

My sixth sense tells me that Hae Eun's tossed a smoke grenade to me, and I snatch it outta the air without even looking.

"What's this for, Hae Eun?"

"Attack the witch! Buy me time so I may finish it off! That smoke grenade is to counter those moth swarms, so whenever they come near, pull the pin!"

I nod. "I'm goin', then!" I throw up Annie all the way up to the giant moth in the air, and I jump off the tank so hard to get the momentum I need to chase after my halberd that I think I leave behind footprints on the tank. I catch Annie outta the air, and I swing my halberd down, Annie's head first. Annie's wicked teeth rip through the moth's left wing, and the moth screams as Annie chews even bigger chunks out of the wing ravenously. I pull myself forward using Annie as a fulcrum, and pullin' out Annie's head outta the wing, I drag the chainsaw blade down with me as I fall back down to the ground over the moth's left wing, rippin' a deep cut right down that wing. Right before the chainsaw wheel pops out the bottom of the wing, I swing my body back towards the direction of the tank so that I don't land back down on that icky blood on the ground.

"She's all yours, Hae Eun!" I bark as I land back down on the tank. She nods, and raises her hand. The main barrel of the Leopard tank raises its axis up at the witch, who's kinda hoverin' around tryin' to get over the pain of the wound I just gave it.

"_True Strike._"

I cover my ears as the thunderous blast of the 120mm cannon round blasts a giant motherfuckin' hole in the center of the moth. We watch it disintegrate into the sky, and the blood that the dandelion familiars bled out on the floor oozes back down into the ground. We're basically standing in the middle of a desolate farm field.

"Oh..." I hear Hae Eun whisper, and I sense Hae Eun's strength fade out a little bit, and I catch her just in time. Seems like she suffered a slight exhaustion attack since she's expended so much energy all at once.

"You okay, Hae Eun? You shouldn't push yourself that hard, y'know," I tell her as I sit with her up against the hatch of the tank. She pats the barrel of the tank gun, and the tank rotates its gun backwards and switches to rear-view drive to take us back to the entrance of the witch dimension from whence we came.

"I just wished to defeat it quickly," she says, still breathing a bit heavy. "I do look forward to meeting Mami Tomoe, after all."

I tuck her head next to my shoulder, and she closes her eyes. "Thank you, Antonia."

"As long as you're okay."

* * *

We stand at Terminal 5, where Mami Tomoe's supposed to arrive at. We've already seen her plane land, so it's just a matter of time before the passengers start walkin' out.

I check my watch. We've already changed back into our normal clothes, and it's just about 11:00 PM. A bit late, but understandable.

The first passengers from the flight start walking on out. We keep an eye out for her blonde drill hair, since that's the most noticeable feature of her.

After some ten or so minutes, I see her. Even though she's trying to keep a calm face, I can easily tell that she's downright nervous. You can tell since her fists are all clenched, she's lookin' around with concern in her eyes, 'n she's not walking confidently or comfortably.

"I see 'er," I tell Hae Eun, who's having trouble spotting since she's shorter than me, and there's a lot of people who're taller than her surrounding us waiting for their own people. I take her hand and walk past a few groups of people, waving at Mami.

"Yooo, Mami! Mami!" I call out, and immediately Mami looks around quickly, indicating that she's heard me call out her name. Man, I feel bad for her, having to come here alone to a strange land that's a helluva lot different than her own town, surely. It's like callin' out to a lost puppy, almost.

"Mami! Over here, to your left!" Thank God she knows English well, 'cause she obeys my voice 'n looks to her left and catches a glimpse of me wavin' at her. She looks super fuckin' relieved. Yeah, I really do feel sorry for her.

She practically hurries over to us, as if she'd lose us in the moderate amount 'a people around us also waitin' for their own people in Mami's flight.

"Ah, h-hello!" she greets us, bowing deeply. Her English, although I can tell it's fluent, is pretty damn distinctly marked with a Japanese accent. "Thank you for picking me up. I'm sorry that, er, I was a bit late..."

Hae Eun silently reaches out a hand, and Mami takes it and shakes. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mami Tomoe," Hae Eun says in English. "Please enoy your stay here."

Mami nods. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"Do you need to get your luggage, Mami?" I ask her, and she nods. "Okay, follow me. We've been through this airport a few times, so we know where to pick up your luggage."

We walk over to the baggage claim area, which's already spewin' out people's bags.

"How was your flight?" Hae Eun asks Mami as we wait for Mami's bags to come out of the conveyor belt system.

"It was okay," Mami says with an embarrassed chuckle. "I am normally fine with flights, but whenever it is a ten or eleven hour flight...it is quite the tough journey."

"Yeah, jetlag's kind of a bitch to deal with," I say, nodding. "Well, on the bright side, you have the next four days to recover from it so you can attend the conference all fine 'n dandy."

Mami nods in agreement. "That, and I have not been on too many flights in my life before," she says. "The only other long flight like this that I have ever flown previously was when my family moved to Japan from England..."

Hae Eun fistpumps. "So it seems my guess was correct," she mutters.

"Eh? Correct...?" Mami overheard that, 'cause she's starin' at Hae Eun with an awkward smile on her face.

"I simply figured that you were half English," Hae Eun states confidently with a snug look on her face.

"I see...how did you go about figuring that out?"

"Your blonde hair, your mannerisms, and your love for tea all point to it," Hae Eun states. "It may be slightly stereotypical, but it was my best guess."

Mami chuckles amusedly. "Interesting. How did you know that I very much so enjoy having tea?"

"Kyuubey showed us," I inform her. "He basically just gave us a quick introduction to you so we knew what to expect. Did he do the same for you, or?"

"Huh? No, he did not do so for me about you two," Mami shakes her head. "I was busy with school and fighting witches, so Kyuubey did not get the chance to introduce me to you."

"I see," Hae Eun nods. "There are your bags. Antonia, if you will."

"Yep!" I reach over 'n grab both of them. Even though they're both at least twenty or so pounds, I lift them easily off the conveyor belts and put them on the ground. "I'll take one for you."

"Oh, thank you very much," Mami says with a smile, and we walk out of the terminal towards our car where it is parked in the reserved garages across the airport street. As we're waitin' on the crosswalk light to let us walk across, I smile, because my sixth sense's tellin' me what's inside the suitcase that I'm toting.

"You _really_ do like tea 'n cake, don't you, Mami?" I smile over at her.

Mami looks back at me with a blank look. "Eh? Excuse me?"

"Your bag's full of tea 'n cake. You don't plan on eatin' all of it while you're here, do you?"

"Er..." Mami's cheeks redden, since the cat's outta the bag. "W-Well...I was just afraid...in the off-chance that...there might not be a cake shop nearby..."

Hae Eun 'n I both laugh out loud, remembering the bakery we ate cake at earlier today. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that, Mami," I heartily laugh. "We'll treat you to the best cake you'll ever taste on the West Coast. That being said..."

The streetlight turns white, indicating pedestrians can walk across the street.

"Welcome to America."


	10. Blindfire

Perhaps it is because we have a guest at our house that I am waking up this early to make breakfast. Yes, it must be.

I had already arranged plans with the school to allow Mami Tomoe to attend the same classes as I am. Typically speaking, the educational schedule in Asian school districts are one or two years ahead of the American educational systems, up until college, at least. Last night, I had talked with Mami so that she is aware of this. She said it would be fine, and to be perfectly honest, she does not have to pay any shred of attention to any of my classes, since she is only staying a week. But after talking with her for a few hours, I have gotten a good grasp of her personality and who she is.

As I busy myself in the kitchen, pulling out ingredients for our breakfast from the refrigerator, I review my thoughts on our new guest, who is, I presume, still sleeping. Mami Tomoe certainly carries herself much like a daughter of nobility would. In fact, the way she conducts herself is uncannily similar to mine. It is a much more polite version of my own personality. Take out all the animosity that I have in my heart, remove the sarcasm and bloodlust, and you have Mami Tomoe.

_"We gotta keep our eyes on her, Hae Eun. I really feel like she's really uncomfortable being here, even if she doesn't show it."_

That is what Antonia informed me before we went to bed for the night, and I agree with Antonia's judgment. Mami is excellent at hiding what she truly feels in a particular situation. A glass-stained window in a Gothic cathedral. Beautiful to see, artful to craft, but if someone puts a bullet in it...

But she certainly knows her teas. We had much fun in making teas and enjoying them together, and Antonia helped out too. It had been quite some time since I had last spent good hours drinking tea with company, and Mami had gotten out some of the sweets in one of her suitcases for the occasion as well. It was fun.

I hear light footsteps, much different from the heavy footsteps that Antonia produces when she shuffles around the house. So she does wake up early.

"Good morning," Mami greets me in English, already in her Mitakihara Middle School uniform. "Oh, you are making breakfast already? Please, allow me to help."

"Gladly," I nod good morning back at her. "Today's breakfast is curry omelets, do you mind this?"

"Oh, no, not at all. I love omelets - I make them all the time for my friends," she says with a giggle.

"That's good. Could you make the rice, please? There is a rice bag in the cupboard over there."

We go about making breakfast together.

"Mami, it is only 6:30. You could have slept for a little bit longer, school does not start until eight," I mention as I crack some eggs into the frying pan.

"I understand. But I wanted to be of assistance to my hosts. I am indebted to you for providing me a place to stay for this weekend's conference," Mami says back.

So she is _that_ kind of person. The kind of person who feels the lack of worthiness or usefulness and cannot live with that feeling in the back of their minds.

I glance over at her. She is humming something, and she is always smiling. Truly a gentlewoman.

"I had meant to ask, Jeannie, but do you not feel uncomfortable going outside with your Soul Gem exposed like that?" Mami asks me with a bit of concern. "My friends and I usually wear our Soul Gems in ring form. Do you not have the same concern as well?"

"I do not mind keeping my Soul Gem as it is," I respond. "Even if there were to be rival Magical Girls who wish to defeat me for the purpose of acquiring more Grief Seeds, let them come to me. I will defeat them all first. Oh, and if you prefer speaking in Japanese, I do not mind that either."

"Oh...is it okay...? I will admit that I am more comfortable in Japanese..."

"It is fine," I say in Japanese so that it is okay.

"Then...why do you think that way? There may be powerful Magical Girls roaming around in the world. Magical Girls whose only goals are to acquire as many Grief Seeds for themselves as they can. One of my friends, Sakura Kyouko, was that way too, until she decided to join us."

"Mami, please do not mistake me for a rookie Magical Girl. I have been in this trade for longer than even you have been. I do not mean to come off as arrogant, but I am simply stating the truth. No Magical Girl has been able to so much as touch me. The only one I know who is capable of landing so much as a scratch on me is the one I live with."

"I see." Mami joins me as she pours the rice water into the rice cooker. "Out of curiosity, how long have you been a Magical Girl?"

"Two and a half years."

"Oh my...yes, that is quite some time." She sounds genuinely impressed. "Then I must ask, how did you know that you have been a Magical Girl for longer than I?"

"I asked Kyuubey to give me some information about you," I reply, "so that I know what to expect when we received you."

She does not reply to that. Hmm.

"Please do not be alarmed. Neither I nor my friend Antonia plan to do anything to you while you stay here. As long as you do not do anything suspicious or malicious, we will do our best to make you as comfortable as possible throughout the duration of your stay. I simply wanted to get to know you a bit more."

Right as I say that, the tension that I could see in her countenance dispels immediately.

"I understand. It is good for all Magical Girls to get along and fight the witches together. I, for one, do not see the point in quarrels among us..." she mentions.

We continue to make breakfast. I fry some fillets of tonkatsu to put in the omelettes once we start making the, and Mami takes care of the eggs in the frying pan.

"You mentioned making food frequently for your friends. I assume you are proficient in cooking?" I ask, out of curiosity, and she nods enthusiastically.

"Yes. The friend I had mentioned, Sakura-san, is now living with me in my house back in Mitakihara. She had been operating out of the nearby prefecture of Kazamino, and when she came to Mitakihara due to the lack of witches in her city, she asked me for a place to stay."

"I assume, then, that this Sakura-san and you are close friends?"

Mami chuckles. "I suppose you could say so. More accurately, I was, and to a certain extent, still am her senpai. I taught her the ways of the Magical Girl, and she and I have teamed together frequently in the past."

I start filling the plates. "Judging from what you have said earlier, it seems you work with friends who are also Magical Girls. How many others are there?"

"Hmm, let's see...there is Sakura-san whom I have been talking about, there is Kaname Madoka-san, Akemi Homura-san, and Sayaka Miki-san. They are all wonderful girls, and with their combined power, I daresay that our fights against witches have become much more productive."

"I'd imagine. Fighting five on one at all times against a witch would be energy-efficient among all the Magical Girls. I suppose the only problem would be how the Grief Seeds would be distributed."

Mami giggles again. "That was what I once thought too, when we initially decided to fight witches together when Miki-san and Kaname-san became Magical Girls. However, it turned out that we were quickly able to optimize our fighting styles to accommodate each other so that our energy outputs would be minimal after each fight. We are all friends and schoolmates, after all."

We take the food over to the table and sit down. "What about you, Baek - er, Jeannie-san? Do you cooperate with any other Magical Girls besides Ainsley-san?"

I shake my head. "Not for the most part, no. She and I are the only two Magical Girls in this region, since we are the two most powerful Magical Girls here. Because of that, the other Magical Girls have recognized this area to be our territory and have largely left us alone."

Mami looks at me with concern. "Is it because you wish to keep all the Grief Seeds for yourselves?"

"No, neither of us have that kind of selfish desire. We do not mind if other Magical Girls decide to stake a claim in our so-called 'territory'," I reply, placing Antonia's utensils where her chair is at the table. "Should that have been the case, I hardly think it logical for us to decide to provide you lodging for the week, no?"

Mami nods slightly. "You're right. I apologize for sounding the way I did, that may have been too doubtful of me."

"No, it is understandable, the blame is partly mine to share for my wording. But to be clear, the reason why other Magical Girls do not enter our region is because the witches that spawn here are typically much stronger than the average witch."

This catches Mami's interest. "Stronger? How so? And why is that?"

I shrug, drinking some water from my glass and waiting for Antonia to come to to the dinner table, since I can hear her getting up from bed and putting her clothes on.

"I do not know. I have talked to Kyuubey - " he jumps onto the table and sits upright - " - about this occurrence, and it appears that this region has always had very tough witches. As for how so...well, perhaps if you would like to join us on a witch hunt sometime, perhaps then you will see for yourself just exactly how much stronger they are. I cannot, unfortunately, tell you upfront such information, because these witches are all we have ever fought before. Nothing less than they have been our opponents."

Antonia walks out to the dinner table, stretching her arms and yawning heavily. "Mornin' all...wuzzz fer breakfast..."

"Omelettes," I tell her in English. "We've got an hour, so take your time."

"Mmmhmmmm..." she drones as she plops down in her chair next to me and starts eating.

"Itadakimasu," Mami puts her hands together and begins eating as well. I bow my head slightly in a short prayer before following suit.

"Out of curiosity, what are your abilities?" Mami asks in English so that Antonia can understand too. "If there are witches that we must fight during the week, I would like to know how I can be of help."

Antonia looks over at me, and I look back at her and nod.

"Well, for me...it's not so much of an ability, more like a trait. I'm just really strong, is all," she says, stooping down underneath the table, putting a hand underneath my chair, and lifting me straight up some three or four meters off the ground. My head just barely misses the ceiling, and she puts me down. "My weapon's kinda unique. It's a halberd, but..." She summons her halberd into her hand, and the first thing that Mami sees is the Predator head stretching its jaws.

"Um..." I can see a cold sweat running down Mami's cheek.

"Don't worry, she's harmless," Antonia says. "Unless, 'course, I tell her to bite you, haha."

"I-I see..." Mami clearly is not very comfortable with Annie. So I suppose it is my turn, then?

I put my fork and knife down on my empty plate and raise my hands for Mami to plainly see.

"40 inch barrel, 56-inch length percussion lock, .58 caliber rifle musket. Accurate up to 500 meters with a muzzle velocity of 1000 feet per second," I recite, keenly observing Mami's reaction, and she reacts just in the way that I expect.

"What - those are - "

Before she can finish her own thought, a musket just like the one that Mami uses to fight with drops out of the air and into my hands.

"...where - where did you...?" Mami stammers, very alarmed that a Magical Girl she hardly knows for more than half a day has managed to procure one of her muskets.

"Allow me to explain," I say calmly before Mami begins to jump to conclusions, setting the musket on the middle of the table. "This ability I have showed you is my primary ability. It is actually quite similar to yours conceptually. You are able to produce an infinite amount of muskets of any varying size and caliber and strength at will - I, on the other hand, can produce any object I want. Including other Magical Girls' weapons...but it is not limited to only weapons."

I produce a Japanese folding fan into my hand and pop it open to prove my point.

"...please tell me how you know my power," Mami says, sternly but cautiously. "I hope you understand that I am not comfortable with others knowing what I am capable of without ever having met them prior."

It is Kyuubey's turn to speak. "Jeannie Baek and Antonia Ainsley had asked me about you, Mami Tomoe, before your departure," he states. "They inquired about you and your ability so that they know what to expect of you."

"K-Kyuubey! But why would you say something like that? !" Mami is clearly very agitated.

"Well, they asked, and I answered. Simple as that. I do not lie to you Magical Girls," he shakes his head. "You could have just as easily asked me to tell you all about these girls too, and I would have given you such information."

Mami is sitting on the edge of her chair now, and she does not touch the rest of her three-quarters-eaten omelette. "Then I suppose it is safe for me to assume that you know everything that there is to know about me as far as my identity as a Magical Girl is concerned?" she asks tensely.

"All we know is what you are able to do. We do not know exactly how strong you are until we actually have the chance to observe you fighting," I say as I drink some more water. "Though, I will say this. Your muskets are very beautifully crafted, Mami. As a gun user myself, your muskets caught my eye the instant Kyuubey informed me about them."

Mami smirks lightly. "I hope you know that a little bit of flattering praise is not enough to have me lower my guard, Jeannie-san."

"Suit yourself," I reply back quickly, "for it is I whom you must rely upon for the rest of this week. We are here to make your stay in America as smooth as possible, nothing more, nothing less. I personally do not care for what you feel towards me or my friend. Perhaps Antonia may have a different opinion on this, but that is my perspective, and she must comply with mine, for she is indebted to me. Should you decide to treat us with suspicion, then very well. I am in no position to control your will."

Mami falls silent and looks back down at her omelette.

"You want me to take back your plate, Hae Eun?" Antonia asks me as she stands up with her own empty plate. I nod, and she whisks it away to put in the kitchen sink so we can wash the dishes later tonight. Mami, meanwhile, decides that it is more prudent for her to finish her food and resumes eating, albeit with markedly more caution. I watch her eat for a minute while slowly drinking the rest of my water, and once I finish it, I also stand to put away the glass and prepare to leave for school. As I stand, I say to Mami,

"Please remember that you are always welcome in this house. I have seen enough about you to know that you are a good person, Mami Tomoe. And that is not what Kyuubey has said, I have come to that conclusion myself."

Mami does not answer me. Oh well - I suppose I will let her come to terms to her situation by herself.

* * *

We enter first period, which is World History, some five minutes before the bell rings.

"So this is an American public school classroom?" Mami wonders aloud. "There is no required school uniform? How surprising..."

"Most American public schools do not require a uniform, unlike most Japanese schools. Usually, American private schools or boarding schools have them," I say to her as I lead her to my seat. There is an extra seat that I put last Friday next to my desk so that she can sit next to me, and we sit in our usual seats. By this time, some of our classmates have noticed Mami and are staring over our way.

I hear the familiar clomping of Nikes and Vans heading towards us.

"Yo, Jeannie, Antonia! Ready for another absolutely wonderful and boring week of world history?" Matty gives us his usual forehead salute wave as he slides into his desk, throwing his backpack next to his chair in the aisle.

"Dude, fuckin' tell me 'bout it. I'm done already readin' that goddamn textbook," Jonah complains, rolling his forehead across his desk. "Like, I'm not even kidding. Fuck that thing. By the way, who's she?" He points at the back of Mami's head.

"Let me introduce her. This is Mami Tomoe; she is the Japanese student who is staying with us until the MUN conference," I have Mami turn around in her seat to greet our friends. "Mami, this is Matty, Jonah, Haley, and Lucy."

Mami bows her head. "Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you all. Please take care of me for this week."

There is an abrupt silence. I cannot help but sense that something very bad will happen to Mami in about three...two...one...

Jonah kneels in front of Mami, takes her right hand like some chivalrous knight would, and asks,

"Please go to prom with me. I beg y-"

"**_SHE AIN'T GOIN' TO PROM, DUMBFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !_ _!_**"

Antonia literally drags Jonah from in front of Mami and out of the classroom. She comes back a minute later.

"...what...what'd you do with...uh...Jonah?" Haley asks hesitantly.

"Hung him out on the flagpole," Antonia replies curtly, sitting back in her desk.

I lean a bit to look around Mami, and I can just barely see Jonah hanging by the hood of his sweater on the flagpole, too high up to get down by himself safely.

"...Antonia, please get him down. That was not warranted."

"Do I have to? He pissed me off askin' that."

"Please do. Class is about to start."

Antonia sighs and walks back out reluctantly, muttering "right, right..."

Mami still looks confused. "Um...what did he ask me? I...I'm afraid I do not understand..."

"He just asked you to go out with him to the prom. Basically, he wants you as a date," Matty explains with a cool look. He is trying too hard to impress Mami, I can tell.

"Eeeeehhh...? !" Mami starts blushing at the thought. "A d-date...? But..."

Lucy kicks Matty in the side from her desk. Apparently she holds the same thought as I. "Don't be getting any weird thoughts, now, you hear? !"

"O-Oi, what's that for?" Matty gives her a bewildered look, but Lucy only returns an icy pout back to him. Oh dear...Matty sure is dense when it comes to realizing that Lucy holds affection for him. Even though he only sees her as a friend...but it is up to Lucy to gather the courage to tell him directly. I will not interfere.

I face our guest. "Mami, allow me to explain. Prom is an American high school tradition in which students participate in social festivities such as dancing and other methods of socialization. Because prom is considered a formal event, it is commonly considered a date if a boy and a girl agree to go to such a prom together. Thus, in the minds of many high school students, it is commonly considered a date - just a very stylized and formal date."

I see Antonia walking back into class, still dragging Jonah by the back of his sweater, out of the corner of my eye as Mami nods, visibly surprised. "I see..."

"However, because high school teenagers are fickle and emotionally driven, many who concern themselves with popularity and such trivial things like that commonly manipulate prom to promote themselves for the sake of their own popularity. And it is not something you should concern yourself with either, as you will be long gone when prom arrives."

"I understand. I just find it very surprising that such an event exists. There is a lot to American schools that I still do not know, it seems, haha," Mami smiles. "But then, if I was asked to prom, what should I say? It seems the boy who told me so is back..." Mami looks very concerned, not knowing how to act.

"You do not have to reciprocate his request. This is just my personal recommendation, but you should only accept their invitation if you also hold some form of affection for the boy in question as well. Some boys go to great lengths to impress the girls they wish to ask out, but that is for you to decide."

"But do girls not ask the same of boys? Is it custom for boys to ask the girls?" Mami asks.

"Girls may ask out boys too. It is just more common to see boys asking the girls, however."

"Oh, I see."

"Especially when you are very beautiful yourself, Mami."

"E-Eh...?"

Mami hears me speak that part in Japanese so that no one else can understand, so she replies to me in Japanese.

"...Jeannie-san, are you perhaps...er...um..."

"No, I am not, I can assure you."

"But you said that with...with such a straight face..."

I can hear Antonia lecturing the heck out of Jonah at the back of the classroom. "I tend not to show much emotion, Mami. I am simply bringing a truth that I find quite evident to light. It seems you never considered yourself to be a rather attractive lady?"

Mami gives me a weak smile. "Oh, please...I spend too much time as a Magical Girl to think about those kinds of things..."

"Well, I just want you to realize that American boys here in this school tend to hark after beautiful blonde girls like you. But also remember that there may be girls who may end up becoming jealous of your beauty."

Mami starts giggling.

"...what is the matter, Mami? I don't think what I said was meant to be funny."

"No, no...I just find the fact that you are caring for me so much to be rather amusing..."

"And why is that?"

"Because maybe, perhaps, I held a wrong impression about you this morning."

I break out a small smile myself. "I would rather be friends than enemies, Tomoe Mami. It would be awkward every morning riding in a car with another Magical Girl that I did not like."

Mami chuckles a bit louder this time. "Indeed."

Mr. Frasier walks into the classroom, late as usual. "Sorry, class, got mixed up at the printer room again..." he sighs, carrying a stack of papers. "So, uh, let's go ahead and start class n - " He stops as soon as his eyes fall on Mami. "Oh right, Jeannie's hosting a foreign exchange student this week. Does she speak English, Jeannie?"

I nod.

"Okay then, why don't you go ahead and stand up and introduce yourself real quick so we can get started with the lecture..."

Mami stands and bows.

"My name is Mami Tomoe. It is a pleasure to meet you all~"

* * *

Come lunchtime, and our usual spot in the amphitheater is more more lively than usual. We are surrounded by a moderate number of guys and girls, all wanting to see who the new foreign exchange student is that the wild fantastical rumors that have spread throughout the school like wildfire are talking about.

"Can you imagine all the shit that's been said 'bout Mami?" Antonia laughs as we eat our packed lunches. Mami is sitting in the middle of a circle of people, mainly girls, with the boys trying to snatch a glance at her from the outside. "People been sayin' that she's some kinda Asian goddess, hahaha!"

"Well, it is certainly true that Mami is exceptionally beautiful. And to think that Kyuubey mentioned her not having any friends at all before she met her own Magical Girl friends..." I ponder, watching her talk with some sophomores.

"One thing's for sure, though," Antonia grins as she leans in towards me. "Remember when we first started school? Everyone was watchin' you, too. But you know why no one ever treated you like this?"

I sip some of my Capri Sun. "Why?"

"Because you've always got that frown on your face! Smile for once, at least!" Antonia starts pulling the corners of my mouth to force a smile.

"Hey..." I don't like it, but I let her do it anyway, and she stops after a few moments. "Mami has a more accessable temperament than I do. I do not mind the fact that she is receiving more attention than I have. You know I do not care for attention anyway."

"Yeah, unlike 99.99999999% of this school," Antonia scoffs. "But c'mon, Hae Eun. Just smile a bit more, not just for me, but for other people too. I keep tellin' people that you're not as scary and removed as you look, 'n that you just need to smile a bit more often to get people to wanna talk to you."

My hand that is about to guide a spoonful of rice to my mouth stops midway. "...I am aware of the fact that you greatly like my smile, Antonia, but I wish to reserve such emotions for people or times when I feel I can best express myself in that way," I mutter. "I don't believe in giving everyone smiles."

"...why not? It doesn't hurt."

"So you think."

"Then why not?"

I remain silent for a second.

"Because I fear that one of those smiles may not be true to my feelings. I feel that I will lead others astray."

Antonia simply bursts out laughing. "Christ, Hae Eun, I keep tellin' myself that you worry about fuckin' everything, but _geez!_" She rubs her eyes from laughing so suddenly. "No, I know what you mean, don't worry. It's better for me, anyway, I get to keep all your cute lil' smiles to myself!" She then tugs me suddenly towards her in a mighty hug, and I almost regurgitate the food that I just swallowed.

"Gu-heh..." I choke, crunching my teeth together to suppress the sickening feeling of almost throwing up. "A-Antonia, could you _please_ not do that...?"

She lets go of me right away. "S-Sorry. Just got caught up in the moment."

I scootch over near Mami. "Mami, take the rest of my bulgogi, Antonia almost strangled me just now and I don't really feel like eating anymore."

"Oh...okay, then," Mami says, watching as I pour the small amount of meat into her lunchbox. "But strangle...?"

"I just hugged her real tight," Antonia happily says, suddenly putting her arms on top of my head and leaning down on it. "Nothin' ta worry about."

"Er, do you all know each other?" one of the sophomore girls that Mami was speaking with asks.

"She is staying at our home for this week until the MUN conference this weekend," I say. "And Antonia, please refrain from doing that."

Antonia gives me an innocent grin, but she obeys. The sophomore girls squeal in delight for some reason.

"You all know each other? How many more friends of yours are like Mami?" the other sophomore asks eagerly.

"She is the only one. Mami is Mami, no?" I reply.

"Oh, stop lying, I know you know a lot more pretty girls! I mean, just look at her!" The sophomore practically jumps onto her butt next to Mami and starts feeling her up. "This hair, these body proportions...I mean come _on_, this is just unfair how perfect this girl is!"

"Ah, ehehehe - " Mami giggles, the hands of the sophomore running up and down her body tickling her. "Please, stop, stop, ahaha - "

"Fuckin' hell, man, don't think I can stay here much longer," one of the junior boys exhales deeply, pulling on the collar of his shirt. "It's gettin' way too hot in here, don'tcha think, Charlie?"

"Oh, shit yeah," the guy next to him whose name is apparently Charlie, "I mean, we got the three hottest girls all in one place. I'm surprised we haven't damn well melted the stage off yet."

The guys around them laugh in unison. I smirk at their humor as the bell rings to signify the end of lunch.

* * *

"So how was school today?" I ask Mami as we put away our school materials into our bookbags, the fifth period ending bell just having rung. She brought her suitcase bag from her own school, while I use a messenger bag.

"It was fun," she replies, stowing the Chemistry 2 AP textbook underneath her desk in a little metal grate that is fixed underneath the seat. "American schools are much more different than schools in Japan are, so it was enjoyable. It was a nice change of pace."

We start walking to the school parking lot, where we will meet with Antonia at the car.

"The thing that took me by surprise the most was that everyone here seems so friendly. There were so many people who wanted to get to know me," Mami mentions. "Well, I don't say that to flatter myself, but...I never really had people come up to me like that before."

I lower my head slightly. "...I think I mentioned this once before, Mami, but a lot of those people do not have the friendly intentions that you think they do. The people here in this school are mostly driven by their own emotions and desires. Rarely will you find a truly altruistic person whose purest intentions are to make friends."

Mami nods. "I understand. I have had such experiences back in Japan. Oftentimes, I would help other Magical Girls fight the witches and give them their Grief Seeds, but they would urge me to keep it instead, saying that I should look out for myself, because that was the way that we Magical Girls should live. My friend Sakura-san was like that for a time as well after her family died, but when she met Miki-san, she changed back to the self that I knew when I first met her. I am no stranger to what selfishness feels like on the receiving end, Jeannie-san."

"Then I suppose my concern was in vain. But still, it is not as if you will return to America any time soon after this week. It is not that I am telling you that making friends during your stay here is futile, but the pain of not being able to see them again for a long time is quite the burden to carry."

"Oh?" Mami stops, cocking her head a bit to her left shoulder and smiling at me. "So does that mean you will miss me when I return to Japan, Jeannie-san?"

I smile lightly. "Then I suppose that also means you hold no sign of suspicion towards me?"

We start walking again, past the cafeteria. "I have no reason to be suspicious of you. Not anymore, at least," she says.

"And what made you change your mind?"

She giggles. "Would you laugh at me if I told you my reason?"

I shake my head. "No, I will not."

"Alright, then. It was your food."

I smile again. "Thank you for the complement," I say, beaming lightly. "I take pride in my culinary skills."

"I could tell. As a cook myself, I can tell that you put your whole effort into making our lunches today. As they say, the fastest way to someone's heart is through their stomach."

"Oh? Even the Japanese have a saying like that?"

"Well, I thought that was more or less a proverb all people knew..."

"But do you see me as a friend, then? It is not that I mind, I am just rather curious."

"But why not? You are kind enough to offer me hospitality during my stay, and you are not a bad person. That much I can see."

"...but what if I am only allowing you to stay because that way, I can ask of you a favor in the future? What if I am only showing you hospitality because you will become indebted to me in some way in the future?"

"Then it will be my duty to repay you accordingly. That is not something I mind either, so long as it is not something I am against."

"Then what if I do ask of you something that you do not agree with?"

"That will not happen, because that is not the kind of person you are," Mami says resolutely. "That is my firm belief, Jeannie-san."

I cannot help but smile. Mami's innocence is too strong.

"I envy your optimism, Mami...but for now, I guess you do not have to worry."

"Optimism?"

"Yes, optimism. You are trusting the goodness within me too much, I feel."

"But judging from your relationship with your other friend, Ainsley-san, you two are very close, am I wrong?"

"No, you are not, but Antonia and I have known each other for the past two years. We, however, have only barely over half a day's worth of acquaintanceship between us. It is rather dangerous to be so optimistic, no?"

"Then why did you tell me this morning that I was welcome at your house at any time?" Mami drops her smile. "It is almost as if you are deliberately trying to trick me into doubting myself. Why are you saying such things to me?"

She takes a step in front of me to block my path. "I do not know how you have lived your life, Jeannie-san. But I know how I have lived mine. There have been times, admittedly, when I had doubted the ways of my life. I know the people who fight with me. I may not understand what you may have against this so-called 'optimism' that you see within me, but please do not question it."

I gaze back at her. It seems odd that for someone whose resolution is this strong, her height does not complement it easily.

It also seems odd that such a strong conviction is to be threatened by the very truth of the existence of Magical Girls, a truth she does not yet realize.

Who knows what will happen when she does discover that terrible truth.

I bow shortly at Mami. "I'm sorry for doubting you. It is because in my life, trust has become a very touchy concept for me to handle, and it is one that I give extremely sparingly. Please forgive me."

Mami smiles again, and she gets out of my way so we can continue walking.

"It is certainly rare to see people our age apologize as you did," Mami remarks.

"Because typically, teenagers our age are too self-centered to realize the errors of their ways. They are too embarrassed to bring themselves to learn how to apologize and fix themselves." I feel my grip on my messenger bag strap tighten.

Mami apparently saw my hand, because she puts a hand on my shoulder lightly. "Don't worry. I have felt the same...because I have committed that very sin myself...more times than I wanted to," she says somberly. "My friends and I...we have had personal conflicts among us, conflicts that could have been so much more easily been resolved if we had all just simply learned to apologize. Instead, we all had to learn how to do so the hard way, learn how to apologize at virtually the worst times possible."

"It seems we understand each other."

"It certainly seems that way. But even if you think that you are the only one in this entire school who knows how to apologize for her mistakes, I urge you not to stray from it. It is better to have but one light burn in a world of darkness than no light at all."

Her poetry is undoubtedly interesting. "I had no plans to do such a thing, Mami. Ever since I met Antonia, I have lived this way, and I plan not to change. But thank you for your encouragement anyway."

I see Haley and Lucy waving at me from across the parking lot, and I wave back, with Mami following suit.

"Did we have homework today for Chemistry? I must admit that I did not hear any mention of it..."

"Oh, that is because our homework is posted online. We can check it when we get back home."

"Ah, I see..."

We meet up with Antonia at the Chrysler.

"Yo! How was your day, Mami?" she gives us a hearty smile as she opens the doors for us and we pile in.

"It was wonderful, thank you."

"Hae Eun, you got anywhere to go today?"

I shake my head. "No, why?"

"I was thinkin' we could stop by that cake shop, y'know? The one we went to yesterday?"

I nod. "Good idea."

Mami leans over from the back seat. "Cake shop?"

"Yes, we know a very good bakery that sells excellent little cakes. Would you like to go there?" I ask, looking at Mami through the rear view mirror, and she gives us another one of her warm smiles, nodding.

"Of course!"

* * *

"Uwaaaaaaahhhh~!"

Mami's big puppy-eyes are practically giving off sparks so bright I feel that I can hardly see her face.

"These cakes...they are so delicious...! ! !" she cries out in wonder, putting another forkful in her mouth. She ordered a lemon cheesecake, the same flavor as the one we had ordered for her and is now sitting at home in the refrigerator.

"Glad to hear it," Antonia says cheerfully. "Me 'n Hae Eun always come here whenever we want something nice 'n sweet. We actually got a bigger one of those for you as a present, but it's back home."

"Really? Oh, thank you," Mami says. There are actually tears in her eyes, but if I were to taste these cakes for the first time, I doubt I would have much of a different reaction. "My goodness...if only I knew how to make these for my friends back home..."

I swallow my bit of caramel creme brulee. "I can teach you, Mami," I mention. "I know how to make these kinds of desserts."

Mami quickly takes my hands over the table. "I am in your care," she asserts, her eyes full of eagerness and anticipation.

"Whoa, you know how to make these? !" Even Antonia is amazed. "Goddamn it, Hae Eun, what _don't_ you know how to make? !"

I cannot help but grin back at Antonia. "As I have stated many times before, Antonia, don't underestimate my cooking ability. I pride myself upon it."

We enjoy the rest of our cakes with mild camaraderie.

"Thank you very much for treating me," Mami says with a satisfied smile. "If only we had tea to wash it down, too."

"I could not agree more," I nod. "Tea would make this cake an excellent dessert."

"Then it's decided!" Antonia says. "We'll buy a big cake 'n take it home with us so we can eat it together after dinner or something."

Mami clasps her hands together happily. "That would be great, yes! And I can have Jeannie-san teach me, too!"

So we order a 12-inch fruit tart cake, one filled with blueberries, grapes, and strawberries. As it nears the time of completion, Mami starts to chuckle lightly.

"What's up, Mami? Something funny?" Antonia asks.

"No, it is nothing. It's just...I just find it so interesting that Magical Girls just like me, in another completely different part of the world, are so similar to me and my own friends."

Antonia gives her a light grin. "I mean, hey. We're all Magical Girls here. It's not like we're all foreign to each other 'r anythin'. We just happen to be different people and speak different languages, that's all."

"Indeed. If only, however, everyone could live the way we do..."

"Live the way we do? What do you mean?" Antonia's grin gives way to a look of confusion.

"Well, surely you have run into other Magical Girls who live very selfishly," Mami states. "I just wish those kinds of Magical Girls could change their lives and see that their selfish desires do nothing but hurt other people and other Magical Girls like them."

"But don'tcha think that's a selfish way to think, Mami?" Antonia asks.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"See, look. I don't mean ta insultcha or nothin', but you stand there sayin' that everyone should live the way you do, right? All righteous 'n stuff? I mean, I don't have anything against your way of living as a Magical Girl. But you don't understand every single Magical Girl out there. Everyone's got a reason to live the way they do. I personally don't think it's right for you, either, to preach your methods onto other people, y'know?"

"But there can be nothing bad that can come out of showing other people kindness and compassion. I simply want other Magical Girls to treat others with the same kind of treatment I myself have shown others. You may call it selfishness, for I see the meaning behind your words, but I do believe that there are far worse kinds of selfishness that exist. What about yourself, then, Ainsley? You are not a selfish person either, so by your logic, you should not be trying to correct my beliefs, no?"

Antonia grins and turns her gaze away from Mami. "Haha, that's where the plot twist comes in. I'm actually the most selfish bitch you can ever find on this side of the entire fuckin' globe."

"Eh...?"

"Listen up, Mami. Both me 'n Hae Eun started out as real selfish girls. Back in the days just before we became Magical Girls, we had our issues. I was just concerned with myself, trying to figure out a way to make it so that people didn't pick on me so much in middle school. Hae Eun, too, didn't do anything for other people. Our wishes, too, were really selfish, to boot, but that all changed when she saved me."

I quickly bump Antonia's left side with my elbow, and she gives me the smallest nod that I have ever seen her give.

"She saved you? How did that happen?"

"She basically saved me from a witch fight," Antonia says calmly. "I was really inexperienced back then. You see, my wish was to get stronger, so when I did become a Magical Girl, I was really fuckin' strong, y'know? So I thought I could defeat any witch that came my way. But I was really, really wrong. I nearly died, and that's when Hae Eun came to save me."

Mami gazes at us, then slowly nods. "I see. That is why you two are so close, I take it?"

I nod. "Antonia was the one who made me realize that simply sitting back and watching another Magical Girl fall victim to a witch wasn't what I could bear to live with. So I had to jump in to save her."

"See?" Mami draws closer to me and pokes me gently on the left cheek. "I knew you weren't a bad person."

"Nnnn, I don't like having my cheeks poked. Only Antonia can do that," I pout.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry," Mami apologizes quickly, withdrawing her hand right away. Antonia hugs me again suddenly from my right and rubs her cheek against the top of my head.

"Awwww, don't be like that, Hae Eun! Mami, just fyi, she's actually got a really, really cute side to her," she whispers to Mami, knowing that I can hear her.

I bop Antonia's stomach with my right fist as I feel a bit of red bubble up to my cheeks. "Quiet, you."

Mami chuckles. "Don't worry, Jeannie. Everyone has their cute side, too."

"I don't like it when people think I'm cute."

"Oh? Why not?"

"They like to play around with me, so I don't like it. Like what Antonia always does."

"Aw, c'mon, Hae Eun! You don't mind it, be honest with me~"

"Hmph!" I face away from Antonia with the same pout. "I only tolerate it because it's you."

"Awwwwww, thanks, Hae Eun, I'll make sure to keep teasing you lots, 'k?" Antonia coos, and I hiss like a cat at her as our cake arrives.

* * *

Nighttime.

"Hwaaaaahhh~" Mami clasps her cheeks as she admires the desserts that are set on the table. Not only do we have the two cakes that we had ordered from the bakery, but I have also spent some time after completing my homework to make some desserts to eat after dinner, mainly tarts.

"There are so many...I don't know which to choose from..." Mami looks at all of them wondrously. "Ooohhh...and I need to start watching my weight, too...what shall I do..."

"You do not have to eat all of them," I say as I take a bite out of a kiwi tart. "In fact, you do not have to eat if you are trying to watch your diet."

"But...I just feel that if I do not eat these, I will be simply wasting your efforts..."

"It's fine, it's fine!" Antonia laughs heartily as usual. "As long as you appreciate her efforts, she'll understand."

Mami cannot help but stare at Antonia as she gobbles down the tarts. "...wouldn't eating so much not be healthy...?" she asks almost timidly.

Antonia shakes her head. "I work out a lot, and on top of which, we fight witches regularly, so that keeps us in shape. Don't worry 'bout us," she says. "Besides, I fuckin' love Hae Eun's cooking! It's just so goooooood~"

Kyuubey jumps up on an unoccupied corner of the table. "You girls, I've found another witch nearby. You need to go take care of it."

"Aw, fuck that, we just got started eating!" Antonia yells, almost throwing her fork at Kyuubey, which I stop by grabbing her arm just in time.

"I never said you needed to go now, but you will have to deal with it tonight."

I point at a blueberry tart that is nearest to him. "Have some if you wish. We will go after we eat."

"Very well." Kyuubey walks to the tart and sits, chewing on the tart as well.

"Do you know where this witch is, Kyuubey?" Mami asks, sipping some barley tea to wash down her cake. "And why are you telling us that there is a witch nearby? Don't you normally let us find them ourselves?"

"Yes. It is normally a forty-minute drive from here, but with Jeannie, such a distance is negligible," Kyuubey says, taking a bite out of his tart. "And the reason why I help these two locate their witches is because their territory is so large, I take care of their hunting for them most of the time."

"Eeehhh...? Er, I do not quite follow," Mami frowns. "Just how big is their territory? And what do you mean, the distance is negligible...?"

"Our territory encompasses not just this town, but everything from Oceanside to Ventura. In other words, our territory covers some 120 miles or so. It is a handful of cities' worth. Conveniently, most of the witches that show themselves in our territory congregate in this general area in which we live, and there are a few that appear further away."

Mami is gaping at me. "...120 miles...?"

"Hey, we weren't lyin' when we said earlier this mornin' that we were the two strongest Magical Girls around. We control a lot of fuckin' territory," Antonia replies coolly. "The witches 'round here aren't exactly pushovers. Only we've been able to deal with 'em efficiently."

"I see..." Mami takes another bite of her banana tart.

"We shall guide you through it, Mami," I say to our guest. "Though, we will not hesitate to ask for your assistance if we feel that it is necessary."

Mami beams. "But of course."

We finish our dessert, and we store the uneaten ones in plastic and put them in the refrigerator.

"Are you ready to go, Mami?" I ask, when we wash our hands.

"Yes, anytime we are ready," she replies steadfastly.

"Alrighty, then, follow us," Antonia yells, already walking out our living room sliding glass doors that lead out to the big backyard where the pool and the basketball court are. We, including Kyuubey, follow after her to the basketball court.

"So, how will we reach the witch?" Mami asks. "There is no car out here..."

"For anything that is more than fifteen minutes' worth of driving, we do not drive," I tell her.

"Then...if not by car, then - "

I turn to her.

"By helicopter."

I watch in amusement as her eyes widen in shock as my outstretched left hand calls down a UH-1H Huey. Antonia walks to one of the passenger doors and slides it open. "C'mon, hop in," she barks at Mami as I enter the pilot's seat. Mami, hesitating at first due to her supreme confusion at how I was even able to drop a helicopter out of nowhere, slowly climbs in.

"H-How...how did you do this...?" Mami stammers as Antonia slides the door shut after her.

"I already told you. My power allows me to create any object I wish," I say before spinning up the helicopter rotor blades. "Please put on those headphones. The helicopter blades will be deafening."

A few minutes later, we are airborne, flying for the location of the witch.

_"Wow...this is rather surreal," _Mami whispers over the helicopter communication line. _"I never believed I would fly inside a helicopter..."_

_"You work with Hae Eun long enough, you'll find yourself in a whole lotta weird situations," _Antonia assures Mami. _"Trust me, this is normal."_

_"I am the daughter of a former American military general," _I mention, checking my avionics. _"My father trained me in the ways of a secret operative, so I am familiar with military procedure and operations."_

By helicopter, it barely takes us more than ten minutes to arrive at our destination.

_"I cannot see the witch's portal anywhere..." _Mami reports, looking all around out of the windows. _"Do you know where to land?"_

_"Yes, because I can see it," _I reply, banking the helicopter down in the middle of an abandoned field. Although it is on the outskirts of a town, I do not think we will be spotted here. After landing, we pile out, and Antonia and I lead Mami to the portal.

"...how did you manage to see it from so far up in the air?" Mami asks when we reach it further down in the field with small tufts of dead grass.

"We don't see, we sense," Antonia laughs. "We've gotten to the point where even if we can't see it, we can sense witch portals and familiar presences within a pretty good distance. I mean, that's not to say other Magical Girls can't do the same thing given enough experience, and you can do it too, it's just we haven't met anyone else who's been able to do it better."

We open the portal to witch's domain and get changed into our Magical Girl gear. We are standing in the middle of a T-intersection of hallways, surrounded by black and gray walls.

"A maze, huh..." Mami grimaces. "This will be tough to find the witch this way..."

Antonia puts a hand on Mami's shoulder, grinning like mad. "Don't you worry, babe, we've got good ol' Antonia Ainsley here with the world's best sixth sense! Shit like this don't faze me, gal! C'mon, it's to the left!"

We dash to the left, following Antonia's lead. Antonia breaks her halberd in half and tosses the animal half behind us, and Annie the Predator clomps behind us, guarding our rear as Antonia revs up her chainsaw blade and holds it out in front of her in case of any surprise attacks.

"Take a right!" she yells, and she sharply twists her feet to bounce down a hallway to our right, which Mami and I emulate. "I'm sensin' a whole buncha familiars headin' our way behind us! We gotta keep movin', don't slow down!"

We keep weaving in and out of the hallways for some fifteen minutes, and during all that time, we constantly hear the screeches and hysterical laughter of the familiars that are chasing us and we cannot see.

"How much further away is the witch?" Mami calls out. "It is not as if we can continue to run for much longer!"

"That's just you, Mami!" Antonia calls out back to her. "Me 'n Hae Eun, we can keep at this for hours! It's jus' runnin'! And besides, we're almost there!"

"Ehhh...?" I can hear Mami breathing heavily, starting to tire out.

Then, Antonia stabs her feet into the ground, almost causing me to run right into her.

"What is it?" I ask.

"We're gettin' ambushed up ahead," she says.

"How many?"

"A lot, all I can say."

I step in front of her, pull back my right arm underneath my left arm, and lash my right arm out. We watch as a thermobaric grenade sails through the air and detonates, setting all the familiars its chemical fumes touch ablaze.

Insect familiars?

"It's clear! C'mon, it's just up ahead!" Antonia yells, spurring us on. Beyond the smoldering blazes, I can see another warp gate, but there is what sounds like a stampede coming behind us.

"Mami, cover your ears and keep running!" I shout, throwing a flashbang grenade behind us back over the blazing fires. We all throw ourselves into the gate as the flashbang goes off, deafening us momentarily as we all tumble onto each other into a bowl-like valley, including Annie.

This feels like ceramic.

"Are you okay, Mami?" I ask, helping her up. "I just wanted to buy us some time to make sure we all made it through in time without getting hurt."

"Yes, I am fine," Mami says, readjusting her beret and rubbing her ears. "It seems you fight just like Akemi-san, so I am used to it."

"Akemi-san? Your friend?"

Mami nods. "She also tends to use a lot of military equipment, though I do not know how she does it. I have yet to see her use a helicopter, however."

"Yo, keep sharp!" Antonia barks, looking straight across. "She's there, alright!"

We look where Antonia's eyes are set. A massive spider stands on the side of the ceramic valley, and we see her familiars, centipedes and beetles, grotesquely misshapen, pour out from their nests and holes from the upper parts of the ceramic valley.

Araneola. Such irony.

"Goddamn. This'll take a bit," Antonia clenches her teeth. "I can already tell..."

As can I. The sheer multitude of familiars and the size of the witch's dimension points to a long, drawn-out battle. It will certainly be no less than challenging.

"Mami, you and I will take care of the familiars!" I command. "We'll cover Antonia so that she can attack the witch directly!"

Mami nods, and she swipes off her beret and lets fall two dozen or so ornately decorated .58 caliber rifle muskets around her. "Understood!"

"Annie, help 'em out!" Antonia yells, and Annie roars in response and jumps behind us to cover our flank in case of an attack from the rear.

I grip two H&K MP7A2 submachine guns and take aim. "Weapons free."

Mami and I open fire. The single shots of her booming muskets and the rat-tat-tatting of my MP7's wreak havoc in the air as the insects that begin to surround us. Spent muskets are tossed into the pool of spent bullet casings onto the ground around us. Antonia slices away anything that jumps in her way, kicking off the insect familiars that jump out to stop her to advance further towards the huge spider, and Annie chews through hordes of the insects.

"There's just no end to them!" Mami yells, gritting her teeth.

"If you feel you cannot expend more magic energy, stay near Annie!" I yell back, reloading my submachine guns and squeezing the triggers again. "She will protect you adequately!"

"I am not quite there yet! I can still fight!" Mami hollers back as I see her whip her arms out to her sides and generate some ten more muskets that unleash their armaments all at once like a Portuguese Renaissance-era organ gun. She repeats the process five more times, and the spent muskets clatter everywhere along the ground.

I hear sharp clangs of a chainsaw blade ripping against flesh, and suddenly, the great spider collapses into the ceramic valley. Antonia drops like a bullet down on the stomach (?) of the spider, crushing her right foot so hard that she pushes the entire spider down a foot into the ceramic ground.

"Jeannie-san, cover me! I will finish it off!" Mami orders as she jumps towards the spider. I slide behind her in her wake, dropping my empty MP7's and opting for an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon with a 200-round belt magazine. I drop to one knee and resume fire.

_"Tiro Finale!"_ I hear a chant, and an explosion, but I focus on my assignment, mowing down waves upon waves of familiars.

"Mami, get back! This bitch ain't dead just yet!"

"E-Eh? ! But how? ! My Tiro Finale hit her directly!"

I notice that the waves of familiars coming from the holes further up the ceramic walls are abating, so after I blast the last few remaining, I stand back up and turn to see the spider. Antonia is in front of Mami, with her left arm thrown in front of her and her chainsaw blade in her right hand.

The witch is certainly not dead. But we do not know what else it will do.

"Antonia!" I shout out to them. "Give me two minutes!"

Antonia nods to me. "Will do! Annie, cover her!"

Annie roars and guards my back, looking around feverishly for any more enemies. I focus my eyes on my target for the next two minutes, and my vision becomes tunnel-like. Soon, I only am able to see my target, the spider, the witch.

The witch, in a world of darkness, much like the world that we live in. My mind is only concentrated on it.

No, I am incorrect. I am only concentrated on its death.

My senses never seem to keep track of time when I am in this state. The moment my vision recedes to darkness, it only seems to be a few moments before I can locate the point that I must strike to eliminate my target.

It's time.

The moment I open my eyes, I find myself in the air, just above the spider's eight-eyed head. Everything is in freefall - and time has stopped. I feel something small and sturdy in my hand, the cool touch of mahogany wood.

Slowly, time resumes...then normalizes.

_"True Strike."_

I feel a mighty crash crunch beneath my feet. The knife in my hand plunges into the top of the head of the spider, and my ears ring with the indistinguishable screams of the death of a witch, and the body implodes into a dark, black mist that bleeds away into the ground. Only a single Grief Seed lies in its wake.

"Are you alright, Mam - "

Antonia is lying behind Mami in a pool of blood.


	11. Don't Apologize for Something I Did

I come to, but I don't open my eyes just yet. I check my senses, my surroundings. Annie's nearby, that's a good sign.

It's safe. I'm back home, I can feel it. In Hae Eun's bed...the feel of her bedsheets and the scent of her body are obvious.

And that's not creepy at all, since I've slept with Hae Eun plenty of times.

Not _that _way.

Not that I mind.

...but my right leg...

I slowly open my eyes, letting them readjust to the low light levels.

"Awake?"

I turn my head to my left, and Hae Eun is sitting at her computer desk, her hand on her mouse and clicking. I smile.

"...sorry ta be a bother, Hae Eun. How long was I out for?"

"Only three hours. It is currently 1:30 AM."

Huh. Funny, I thought I'd be out for longer than that.

I try sitting up in her canopy bed, but a jolt of pain darts down my leg, and I can't help but gasp in surprise. Gritting my teeth, I lift the covers.

It's like somebody fuckin' mummified my right leg from my thigh to the lower half of my shin. What the hell?

"...how badly did I fuck up this time to have gotten this?" I ask Hae Eun with a half-assed smile, and she turns in her swivel chair to face me.

"...do you not remember?" She looks extremely concerned, but I've seen that face before.

It's the kind of face she makes whenever I take a hit for her. A weird mixture of concern, desperation, and calmness. I don't know how she even manages to pull off that face to begin with.

I shake my head. "The most I remember is when that spider bitch did something to knock me out. I do know I was guarding Mami, though...speakin' 'a which, where is she? She okay?"

Hae Eun nods. "She is sleeping in her room. She is fine."

I sigh lightly in relief. If she's safe, that means I've done my job. "Thanks for coverin' for my mistake. I owe you yet another on - "

"Shut up."

I do, instantly. Hae Eun never tells anyone to shut up unless she truly wants them to, and she'll make 'em, whether they listen or whether she decides to force them with bullets.

"...I take it that it wasn't my fault this time, then."

Hae Eun closes her eyes painfully. "...no, it was not. You were only protecting Mami. That is an understandable error. The blame is partly mine to shoulder."

"...er, I don't quite follow. Why do you think that?"

Hae Eun lowers her head. "I decided to use True Strike at a time that I should have been instead watching out for any more activity from the witch. It was at a critical stage of the fight that I should not have simply ignored and left to you two to handle by yourselves. That miscalculation in my judgment cost you an injury."

I can't help but snort in laughter. Really, this girl...

"But you ended up killing the witch, I'm guessin'. I mean, we wouldn't be back home if ya hadn't. So what's the fuss? I'm okay now, and given some time - "

"Antonia. Do you remember what I told you when I first began instructing you?"

Her words cut me short, and I'm in no position to do otherwise.

"Yeah, I do. How could I forget?"

"Really? You did not forget? Because to me, it seems that you are."

Er...what exactly am I forgetting?

Oh fuck, that's right...

Lemme explain. When Hae Eun first picked me up and took me in, like I mentioned before, she started training me in the ways of killing witches and being a Magical Girl. But she taught me in her styles, her mannerisms. And because Hae Eun was originally trained as a military special operations soldier, she applied many of the same mentalities that she was trained in to my own training.

One of these mentalities is the one that says that all battles should be quick and decisive, with minimal losses on our end and maximum damage dealt to the other end. In other words, Hae Eun wants nothing less than a perfect battle, with nothing lost except for the energy used to fight the fight.

Therefore, if something goes wrong, if someone gets hurt, she fuckin' flips out.

Now, I'm not sayin' she flips out all the time. There are understandable instances where either of us are hurt, but it's nothing major. It's the serious wounds she kicks herself over. If someone starts bleedin' like mad, if someone gets knocked the fuck out, if someone gets a limb torn off, she'll fuckin' blow up the world if she has to in order ta not let that person get hurt any further.

Not only that, but she won't mind if she takes a hit or two. If she can tell that the people she works with are fine, even if they've also taken a few hits, then she's okay with it. Even when it's someone else's fault that she got hurt, Hae Eun's bucket of fucks is completely empty.

But when she knows, or even thinks, that it's her fault that someone got seriously injured, she wrecks herself. She can't bring herself to actually say the words, but anyone with any ounce of sense can tell that she's truly sorry.

She's _that _kinda person.

And tonight, since I got bruised up, she's throwin' a fit.

I sigh more heavily. "...I get it, Hae Eun. You want me to recognize that this is partly your fault, isn't it?"

She doesn't answer me, which means I'm right.

Throwing myself onto my back again, I let my gradient hair sprawl all over her bed. "Listen, Hae Eun. I appreciate the fact that you're trying to apologize to me, but you don't need to. As much as you want our fights to be as clean for us as possible, there'll be nights when either or both of us get hurt, or, maybe, even die. We both know that, I know you do. I'm tellin' ya right now to just let go of it, since I'm okay with it. Maybe if I were a different person, sure, maybe, your feelings're justified right now, but we've been livin' and fightin' together for the last two years. You know that I'll forgive you, don'tcha?"

She looks straight in to my eyes.

"As if it's so easy to do that...!"

Hey, I've seen those eyes before.

Those are the eyes of a person who's trying to scream out in desperation but can't for whatever reason.

Heh, I'd know. I had those eyes right the night I almost became a witch.

How ironic that I'd see them on the one person who saved me from that very fate. And, to be perfectly honest...

...that pisses me off.

I quickly heave my legs off the bed, despite the jarring pain that I feel when I do that, reach out and grab Hae Eun by the collar, and pull her towards me so that the weight of her body crashes into mine and consequently onto the bed. Looks like she didn't expect me to still be able to move like this, because she's lookin' at me all surprised 'n shit. But she can't escape, since I've got her in my arms now.

"Godfucking damn it, Hae Eun," I whisper fiercely. "This fuckin' pisses me the fuck off, you fuckin' know that, you fuckin' fuck? What makes ya think you can jus' sit on that goddamn chair, thinkin' yer the one to blame for all this? What makes ya think you can jus' sit on that high motherfuckin' horse, the whole 'do you remember what I taught you' bullshit? Fuck that. Fuck that, fuck that, fuck that! You're not a military soldier anymore! You're not a mindless killin' machine like you were back then anymore! You're Hae Eun! You're Jeannie, what the fuck ever! You're a regular high school student now, just like everyone else! For fuck's sake, Hae Eun, you're my friend! You're my savior! So why won't _you _fucking remember? Why won't you remember _my _words? Why won't you remember that I promised you that my life is yours? That since you pulled me from the depths of hell, I'll more 'n gladly do a thousand times more 'n that to make sure you're safe? Fucking Christ, Hae Eun! Wake the fuck up! You think you're bein' all fuzzy 'n considerate that you're takin' the blame for this shit, but I don't fuckin' think so! To me, you're just givin' yourself another excuse to feel all bad for yourself! What the fuck's that gonna do for you, huh? ! Tell me! Tell me, Hae Eun! Tell me what it can possibly achieve that'll make ya feel better than if I just were to say to you, 'It's okay, I'm fine'? !"

We stay like this for a few minutes. Annie brushes the tip of her nose against the top of my head.

"...your Welsh accent is bleeding through."

I smile, and then give a short laugh. It's one of the things she says when she can't think of anything to say, but for obvious reasons, she only says that to me.

"That's whatcha get if you make me mad, Hae Eun!"

* * *

"So? What happened when I got knocked out?" I ask Hae Eun, who's cutting some apples for me.

"According to Mami, the witch spawned more of her familiars from within her body," she replies. "The familiars flew out at you, and you struck them away, but the witch attacked with her limbs and hit you directly on the leg, from the shin to the thigh. The cut was substantial."

"How bad, exactly?"

"You will not be able to walk properly for a few days, not to mention the amount of blood you lost."

I grimace, but that explains my light-headedness. "That bad?"

"Yes...it is imperative you do not harass it in any way."

"Man, that fuckin' sucks...I ain't lookin' forward to all the make-up work I'll have to do..."

"I will do that for you. It is only fair."

"I take that back, I _am _looking forward to my make-up work."

Hae Eun hands me an apple on a small fork, and I take it, since it's important for me to get some sugar back into my system. "You got the Grief Seed from that, right?"

Hae Eun nods. "I used it to heal you and your Gem, although it did not use it up all the way."

I can't help but laugh. "I'm a tough bitch ta kill off. This cut's deep, sure, but this sure ain't gonna just kill me straight up."

"I gave the rest of it to Mami so she could regain her energy, though."

"You make it sound like I have a problem with that. We have like, fuckin' 50 Grief Seeds stored away here in case 'a emergencies."

"Better to increase it than to decrease it."

"Can't deny that."

I chew silently on my apple until it's gone.

"...then what 'bout Mami?"

Hae Eun lowers the apple slice that she was about to eat.

"...she is not doing so well."

I sit up quickly. "Why, what's wrong with her? She get hurt too?"

Hae Eun shakes her head quickly. "Nothing physical, but she does feel responsible for the fact that you became injured. She thinks it is her fault."

I facepalm. "Fuuuuuuuck..." I groan. "I mean, with you, I'm able ta clear shit up quick, but this's Mami we're talkin' 'bout, ain't it..."

"I tried calming her down as best as I could. But, obviously, you will have to talk to her in order to let her know that you are fine."

I nod. "Yeah, I know that...damn it, if only I didn't get hurt, eh? This really is a pain, fuck."

We eat some more apples in relative silence. Hae Eun turns to her computer briefly, her mouse clickin', and turns on her stereo speakers. The light breeze of cello strings coos through the speakers.

"Yo-Yo Ma?"

Hae Eun nods.

"How did you know?"

"You always play it, haha. Of course I'd recognize it. It's like your favorite cello song, isn't it?"

Hae Eun nods again.

"How bad is her Soul Gem?"

"...it is worse than I had thought."

"Tch." I can't help but clench my teeth. "We still got a chance, though, right?"

"Of course, but...things have now been complicated. Now, it has gotten to the point where if Mami witnesses something like this or blames herself for another injury sustained again, we cannot guarantee that she will keep her life."

I run my hand up 'n over through my hair. "_That _bad, huh..."

Hae Eun stands up. "I will go prepare for bed, and I will sleep with you tonight. You will need it to regain your power more quickly. We will discuss this later tomorrow...and you can talk it through with Mami if she so wishes."

I nod.

* * *

I blink, rubbing my eyes. It's morning, and I sit up, grimacing as the searing pain from my leg greets me, though noticeably better than last night. I can still feel Hae Eun's warmth in my arms.

Glancing at Hae Eun's desk, I lean over to see the clock. 10:33 AM? Damn, I slept in. Not that I need to care, Hae Eun's gonna cover for me anyway.

I try swingin' my legs outta bed to walk, but even that much hurts, so I gently put my feet down on the floor and try to stand. Ow, fuck, that hurts...okay, so walkin's basically outta the picture, but that ain't stoppin' me from findin' somethin' to eat, at least. I summon my halberd, and since Annie's still here with me, sleeping next to the bed beside me, I use it as a walking stick to get me to the kitchen, where there's a plate of food - cauliflower, fried rice, and a thick slab of smoked ham covered in clear plastic - next to the stove, with a note.

_I will buy you some Panda Express when we come back home from school. -Hae Eun_

I heat up my breakfast and take it with me to the living room, where I fall onto the couch to watch some TV while I eat.

_"Some time last night, at around 11 o' clock, witnesses here claim that they have heard a helicopter fly by. Local law says that private air traffic is forbidden, and there has been no claim of responsibility by any branch of state or federal military body as of yet - "_

I chuckle. Once in a while, whenever we have to use Hae Eun's helicopters or jets, the news picks up on it. But it's not like they'll ever know. This world will never believe that a ninth grade high school girl is capable of making military vehicles with her bare hands.

We will do and see things that they will never do or see. It's always been like that, really.

"Staying home from school today?" Kyuubey asks. He jumps onto the glass table where I have my food sitting as I watch the morning news.

"Yeah," I reply back. I don't wanna waste my energy bitchin' at him today, not until I recover. "I wanna rest up real good 'n make sure I can get back to fightin' ASAP. It's what you'd want, too, isn't it?"

Kyuubey nods. "Given your strength and skill in exterminating witches, I agree with your course of actions. Though, I would like to point out that had the power resonance between you and Jeannie Baek never existed, you may have needed to require several of your stored Grief Seeds to repair the damages you had sustained."

I chew on some smoked ham. "...you said you don't know why the power resonance thing exists, right?"

Kyuubey shakes his head. "No, I do not. It is an anomaly that exists within the construct that defines the parameters of the existences of Magical Girls. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the natural course of human beings does not account for homosexual relations between two female humans? I can only theorize, but because it is only a positive event as far as I can see, I see no need to investigate it further."

"Do you know if anyone else has it like me 'n Hae Eun do?"

Kyuubey licks himself on the leg like a cat. "In fact, I do. I know of another such power resonance between two Magical Girls by the names of Sayaka Miki and Kyouko Sakura, who also happen to be fellow comrades of the Mami Tomoe you are housing for the week."

"Hmph, interestin'. They must have a relationship like we do."

"You could say that, yes. Though, even I, while still not being able to understand human emotion, can see that the bond between you and Jeannie Baek is much stronger and secure than that between Sayaka Miki and Kyouko Sakura."

"In other words, they ain't open with each other jus' yet, huh..." I stab my fork on another slab of smoked ham. "Well, s'long as they don't lose their feelings for each other, they should be fine. We were like that too..."

I change the channel to ESPN 2, and they're showing live footage of some tennis tournament.

"Give up on saving Mami Tomoe."

I glance over at him. "Hm? Say that one more time?"

"Give up on saving Mami Tomoe. Her death is inevitable, and your injury last night has hastened it to the point of no return. You have not seen Mami Tomoe's Soul Gem yet, but I have. Your injury has triggered within her state of mind a series of doubts and second-guessings that I highly doubt you can halt. I advise you to keep a close eye on her so that when she does devolve into a witch, you may dispatch of her as quickly and painlessly as possible."

I sigh, put down my fork, and reach over to Kyuubey to grab him by his head with my left hand. I hold him up in the air.

"Hoh? And what makes you think you have the authority to say somethin' like that to me, Incubator?"

"I am here to guide the Magical Girls that I contract with. I am simply giving you the most sensible pieces of advice that I can to ensure my goals are satisfied. I thought you were already aware of this, Antonia Ainsley."

I smirk lightly. "Yeah, you're right. I already knew."

I feel my left hand squeeze, and blood flies everywhere. Kyuubey's headless body tumbles off the corner of the couch and rolls a little bit onto the carpet.

"But, y'know, y'know? I stopped listenin' to yer goddamn 'advice' ever since that day, Incubator. That day when we learned that witches come from the good ol' Soul Gems of Magical Girls, I never really listened to you, y'know? _You _shoulda caught wind 'a that, no? I mean, for fuck's sake, man, you're the most 'logical' of us all here. You didn't know that? No, nooooooo, you would have, you should have. The Incubator I know isn't _that _fucking stupid. The Incubator I know woulda already known that I'd do somethin' like this, crushin' his head like a little orange 'n lettin' his blood go poppin' everywhere."

I toss the crushed head of Kyuubey away and turn my attention to the TV again.

"C'mon, Kyuubey, you lil' dipshit, it's time for breakfast~" I call out in a mockingly monotone voice. "It ain't like Mami's gonna see you 'r anything, right? Or are you plannin' on waiting for her to come back so she can see you fuckin' eatin' yer own heart out?"

I hear the familiar patting of Kyuubey's feet coming from the kitchen, and he jumps over the couch to his lifeless body. "Dear me, you do realize I would wish not to keep doing this. I would appreciate if you could restrain from such violent acts towards me."

The irony is strong with this one.

Kyuubey munches up his own dead body, and I use some of my magical energy to wipe his blood off the furniture and floor. "Don't need to be wastin' my own magical energy first thing in the mornin', Kyuubey, so get the fuck outta my sight," I bark at him.

"Very well, but keep my advice in mind."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You really think I'd do that?"

"You should."

"But I won't."

"Then it's a shame."

I snort. "Shame? Shame in what? Not listening to the words of the world's biggest asshole? Yeah, that's a real big shame, all right."

I punt Kyuubey out of my sight, and he goes bouncin' off the walls into the hallways. I finish my breakfast at the couch, and after putting away the dish, I hobble over to my room for the rest of the time until they get outta school.

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Yeah, I'm here, c'min."

I'm reading some manga on my bed when I look down to see who's walkin' in, but I already know because of my sixth sense. It's Mami.

"G-Good afternoon, Ms. Ainsley - "

"Antonia's fine."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Antonia. Erm...Jeannie and I stopped by that bakery you treated me to yesterday, and we bought you this. Please, have it."

She bows as if she's apologizing, and in her hands is a rather sizable box. I can smell my favorite cake sitting inside it - sherbet swirl with strawberry, orange, and limes.

"Sweet, thank you!" I take the box and put it beside me on the bedsheet. "There somethin' you wanna talk to me 'bout?"

Mami's weak smile melts off her face. "...yes, there is. May I?"

"Close the door and you can."

She shuts the door and sits in my chair at my desk.

"So? Whatcha wanna talk 'bout?"

She doesn't answer for a second.

"...I wish to apologize for your injury last night. It...It was my fault that you became hurt the way you did, when you were protecting me. If you hadn't been there, surely, I would have been hit, and instead..."

She doesn't finish the sentence. Not that she needs to for me to understand. I sigh.

"It's fine, girl. Just make sure to be more careful next time and don't approach a witch like that thinkin' it's dead when it's really not. Y'know, we weren't kiddin' when we said the witches 'round here're are tougher than you think."

"But is that really okay? What if something like this happens again? What if someone becomes even more badly injured?"

I scratch my head, startin' to get annoyed. "Wait, so, what's the point even askin' shit like that? These are battles, Mami. I'm sure you've gotten injured in some of these before. If there're injuries, if there're deaths, tough shit. You, bein' a veteran Magical Girl 'n all, should understand that, but from what I can tell, you don't seem to."

"Because I cannot stand watching other such Magical Girls becoming wounded, especially in my stead! That is not why I fight, simply to see my friends get hurt!"

"Then what _do _you fight for? Tell me that."

"To defeat the witches and their familiars to prevent them from attacking people. There is enough suffering in the world to go around, so I wish to do my part and help save as many people as I can, including other Magical Girls."

I narrow my eyes. "Other Magical Girls? Save them? Whatcha mean?"

"There have been many Magical Girls that I have run into in the past who have very selfish tendencies and live only for themselves. I want to show them that there is so much more to life than simply living for themselves, as my friends have shown me in my own life."

This is cringeworthy. Maybe if I didn't already know Mami Tomoe's so fuckin' close to the tippin' point, I could be at least a little bit sympathetic, but it's by far impossible for me now.

"It's not that I don't understand what'cher tryin' ta do, Mami," I say. "But don't go beatin' yerself up over somethin' that you couldn't do anythin' about. No matter how hard you try, there's bound to be things you can't do. There's gonna be shit that's gonna happen, like me gettin' knocked out, that no one coulda seen comin', nothin' you could do anythin' about. Havin' a desire 'n actin' on it's fine, that ain't what I got a problem with. But what's pissin' me off is that you can't deal with what happens when somethin' doesn't go your way."

Mami doesn't say anything to me back.

"Am I wrong, Mami? I'm not you, I ain't gonna sit here 'n say that I know everythin' 'bout you. I'm jus' sayin' what I think. But the thing is, I don't think I'm wrong, even though I kinda hope that I am."

"...I'm sorry."

Mami bows her head.

"...what?"

"I'm sorry. I understand what you are trying to say - there was nothing wrong with your words. It's true - I do stress over the things that happen to my friends and comrades. It's just...I have a hard time accepting the fact that I must come to terms with things that I cannot control...but even then, it is extremely difficult...so I'm sor - "

I feel my right hand ballin' up into a fist.

"Don't apologize for somethin' ya didn't do."

This takes Mami by surprise.

"...eh...? Excuse...me...?"

"I said, don't fuckin' apologize for somethin' you didn't do. What did you do to warrant an apology from yourself? Tell me, Mami. What did you do to make you feel you needed to apologize?"

Mami is visibly confused and distraught. "E-Eh...? W-Well...I was under the impression that my words offended you somehow - "

"Your words? Your words? !" I feel my voice rising. Goddamn it, how fuckin' clueless is this bitch? ! "What, your desire ta help people out? You think _that's _gonna offend people? So what exactly's wrong with tryin' ta help people that makes ya think it's offensive? Who the fuck thinks that, seriously? And what, you just admitted that you have a hard time gettin' over shit whenever stuff happens to your friends. What's wrong with admittin' your own mistakes? What's wrong with realizin' your own shortcomings? What makes ya think you need to apologize to anyone for that? !"

I close my eyes to contain my anger. "Mami, do you know what an apology is?"

"A-An apology...?"

"Yeah. What do you think it is?"

"...it is when someone realizes the error of his or her ways and attempts to make amends."

"And you know what the key word in your definition is?"

"Key word...?"

"Yeah. It's 'error'. So, Mami, what kinda error do you think you made?"

"Th-The error that I made last night, during the battle with the witch! You were protecting me because you knew the witch wasn't quite dead yet from my attack! So if I had just made my Tiro Finale just a little bit more powerful, I definitely would have finished it off!"

"So tell me, are you saying that because you truly could muster up a stronger Tiro Finale, or are you only saying that because you're trying to convince yourself right now that you're stronger than you really are?"

That silences Mami straight away. I chuckle a little bit.

"It's funny, Mami. You're so bad at seeing your own mistakes that when ya see one, you think it's yours, when in reality, it was mine to begin with."

"...how...how was that your...mistake...?"

I close my eyes, remembering as much as I could, those last few minutes before I blacked out -

"I was a fuckin' idiot for thinkin' I could block an attack like that. I was tryin' ta be flashy, be all cool 'n shit in front my guest. What I shoulda done was back way the fuck up so that neither of us was gonna get hit. Nah, I figured since the witch was almost dead, I might as well stand there like a dumbass 'n tank the hit. So much good that did for me. You see? You can think of this as your mistake all you want, Mami, but it ain't gonna do you any good. It's me who blundered, and I paid the price for tryin' to go for style points when I clearly didn't need to. So stop apologizing before I really do get mad at you for it. This cake is way more than enough to pay me back, anyhow."

I look at Mami. She still looks like she's about to overload on the worry meter, so I beckon at her.

"C'mere, Mami."

She hesitates, but she approaches me with a bit of restraint. As soon as she's within grappling distance, I put my arm around her neck faster than she can react and pull her towards me. At the same time, I open the cake box, pick up the fork inside, fish out a piece of the cake, and stuff it into Mami's mouth as she opens her lips to cry out in surprise.

"Good, ain't it?" I smile as she eats the piece of cake she bought for me, sitting up on my bed next to me.

"...that was mean, Ainsley," she pouts, wiping her mouth of cake. "I do not like it when people take advantage of me."

"Sorry, haha. And call me Antonia." I watch her clear her throat with a handkerchief. "Still not too sure what to feel, huh?"

"...how do you know all this about me, Antonia?"

"Hm?"

"How do you know all of this? I am not going to deny that what you have said is true, even if I am uncomfortable with it. Before I came here, before I met you and Jeannie, I thought I was the knowledgeable upperclassman, the wise one that my friends looked up to. I can't say that I came here feeling the same way, because you are both my age, if not older, but...it seems I am the fool here..."

I swing my legs behind Mami so I can lie down on my bed. The same jolting pain slashes through my right leg, but I've gotten used to it already, so all I do is narrow my right eye in response to it. "Hmmm...well, the obvious answer for me's that my sixth sense tells me everything 'bout you. You're the kinda person that I can read all the way through. You're very emotionally driven, so you'll show signs of what you think. My sixth sense picks up on that. Only people like Hae Eun, who know how to control their own emotions even under the most stressful of conditions, are the ones I can't read at all. So there's that."

"I see..."

"But lemme ask. You mentioned just now that you thought you were the upperclassman, the one who's supposed to be all smart 'n shit, right? I'm assuming that's whatcha feel when you're around your usual friends back home. How much younger are they?"

"They are all one year below me. I am the only one who is a third-year in middle school, while they are all second years."

"Hmmm..." I ponder. "You don't really have any other friends than them?"

She shakes her head.

"They are my friends precisely for the reason that they, too, are Magical Girls. Simply because of the fact that we fight together, I can be with them at any time of the day. That, and because they, too, are Magical Girls, they harbor the same pains and responsibilities as I."

It clicks in my head then.

"You know what? Mami, that's why. It's 'cause you're their only upperclassman they can look up to, and it's 'cause you feel the pressure to be that reliable upperclassman that they can strive to be. But it's tough to be the sole role model, ain't it?"

Mami nods.

"...that, and...I have noticed that my friends tend to gravitate towards one another. Madoka...is very good friends with Homura, and Sayaka is very close with Kyouko, my former student when she first became a Magical Girl..."

She's got that lonely look. It's the same lonely look I often saw Hae Eun wear back in sixth grade, before I knew she was a Magical Girl, before we were friends. It's a look that says you don't get why the fuck you're knee-deep in the shitty situation you're in now.

"You feel left out, don't you."

Mami does not react. Man, I'm not trying to blame her or anythin', but damn, she's one tough nut to crack...

"And yet, even though you feel that way, you still tried to carry the same attitude over here, where the roles're reversed, where instead of bein' the oldest one, you tumbled down the social ladder 'n wound up at the very bottom, because that's the mentality that you've grown accustomed to - no, not only that, but it's the _only_ mentality that you know how to carry yourself around with, because if you acted any differently, you'd feel weird as fuck. That more or less it, or am I getting something wrong, you think...?"

Mami slowly nods, as if she's unsure of her own answer.

"Awww, fuck it, that's no good!"

"Kya-!"

I lurch forward to grab Mami's left shoulder and tug her down onto me on the bed.

"Uh, Antonia...?"

"Shut it, you worrybox. Stay like this for a sec."

I start playing with Mami's hair like I'd do with Hae Eun's hair. Mami's bright blonde hair feels like water, a lot different than the silky gentleness that Hae Eun's hair's got. But running my fingers through Mami's blonde hair - it's refreshing.

"I can't say this out of empathy, Mami, but I know that you had to gather up a lot of courage just to fly over here to America. You'd never been here before, and on top of that, you had to come alone to the house of people you never knew before. Yet you hid your unease as best you could so that you could fulfill your club activities and your duties as a Magical Girl. And you really thought I'd get mad at you for that, huh? Geez, you're a handful."

"...oh..."

"Listen, Mami. I don't care how you wanna live your life when you're not with us. When you go back to Japan next week, you can go back to the same ol' life you had before you came here. But when you're here, don't make yourself uncomfortable by thinkin' you gotta put up that upperclassman image all the damn time. You're not gettin' anythin' done if you do that, because we're all the same grade here. I know it's hard, but you can remake the person you are while you're here with us. You said it yourself, didn't you? You wanted to make friends with other Magical Girls? Then why make it harder on yourself by not letting yourself get closer to us? Hae Eun said you're welcome in her house anytime you want. Let Onee-chan take care 'a ya!"

Mami's eyes grow wide.

"...Onee...chan...?"

I nod. "Yep! I'm Hae Eun's onee-chan already, and I can be yours, too!"

"Er, you speak Japanese too? I thought you - "

"Hey, I pick up a few things here and there, what's wrong with me saying older sister in Japanese?"

"...onee-chan, you say..." she smiles, and she snuggles into my collar. "...then...if it is no inconvenience to you..."

"Nope, none at all. When you're here, you'll be our cute little sister, 'k?"

"E-Eh..." I can feel her cheeks get warmer. "L-Little sister...?"

"Yeah. When you're home, you're the big sister of your friends, right? You can be our little sister while you're here!"

"Um, I-I-I'm not sure if I like it - "

"Awwwww, c'mon, why not? C'mon, c'mon~"

I'm having too much fun to sense Hae Eun walking down the hall and open the door to my room.

"Antonia, I want to steal a piece of that cake we bought for y - "

She cuts her words as her eyes process the sight of me hugging Mami on my bed. We all stare at each other awkwardly, and Hae Eun slides out the door.

"...pardon my intrusion..."

"H-Hae Eun, it ain't what it looks like!"

"J-Jeannie-san, please wait - ! ! !"

She calls from the hall, her voice growing weaker. "No, no, please, pay me no heed, I shall be in my room ~"

Man, talk 'bout an inconvenient walk-in.


	12. The Insider's Job

"So you spoke with Antonia?"

Mami and I are playing some chess in the living room, in between the couch and the television.

"Yes, I did."

"What did she tell you?"

She simply gives me a weak smile and does not answer right away, moving her pawn piece forward to fork my knight and pawn.

"She said that I could be your little sister."

I nearly spit out the lemon tea that I am drinking and start coughing, almost choking on it. Mami looks at me with concern as I regain my composure, wiping my mouth with a tissue.

"..._my_ little sister...? What is that girl thinking..."

"Er, well, no, she just said that in a general sense..."

As ridiculous as that may have sounded, I do follow Antonia's logic. Mami is younger than both of us, and both Antonia and I have been Magical Girls for longer than she has. In addition, Mami is the upperclassman of her group of Magical Girl friends, so Antonia may have pitied her isolation by circumstance and wanted her to switch roles, so to speak. Have her be the cute lowerclassman student who has others to look up to for guidance, something along the lines of that.

"Then what do you think, Mami? Are you willing to see us as your upperclassmen and be something that you have never been?"

Mami lowers her head. "I cannot say that I am exactly comfortable with that. It is certainly true that my experience as a friend and mentor to my own companions has not prepared me for a scenario in which I fight alongside two other Magical Girls who are both older and more experienced than myself. But it is something that I will have to adjust to, at least for this week. And it is not all that bad, either. It's quite the different experience."

I move my bishop over to take Mami's knight.

"But are you happy?"

She does not answer.

"Because if you are not happy, I do not wish to - "

"It is not that I am happy, Jeannie-san. It is simply...I just don't know what exactly to feel."

"I see. I suppose I, too, cannot say myself that I can understand your feelings, given that I have never been in your position. But we will do the best we can to make sure you enjoy your stay here."

Mami takes my queen with her bishop.

"A blunder, perhaps, Jeannie-san?" Mami asks me with a light smile, but I smile back at her in the same fashion as my hand pushes a pawn forward, allowing my rook to trap her king along the last row of squares.

"One does not need the most powerful tools to win a conflict," I return, watching Mami's face contort in mute shock as she realizes that she had not anticipated my move. "Only the skill and prowess to recognize and manipulate the resources at hand to produce the most favorable outcome."

"Heh. I feel as though I have heard that from somewhere," Mami chuckles. "Perhaps Kyuubey's mannerisms have rubbed off onto you."

"I do not attribute that to Kyuubey's presence, though that was a good guess."

"Oh? Then may I ask how you came to develop that mentality of utmost efficiency?"

I set down my cup of lemon tea. "Do you not think that is rude to ask of your host?"

"Hardly, as you have asked Kyuubey about me before I had already arrived. I suppose that only suits you, but I wasn't aware of the fact that we were meant to scout out one another before even having met."

I slide my rook over to the last row, checkmating Mami's king with my rook and king. She sighs in defeat.

"Well played," she complements me. "That was a good game."

"Same to you," I return her complement, reassembling the pieces back to their proper spaces on the chessboard. "And don't worry, almost nothing offends me. Or, more accurately, I do not let most things offend me to any surmountable degree."

"Then if that is the case, I would be very interested in getting to know more about you. It would only be fitting, seeing that our mutual interests lie in befriending one another."

"Very well." I lean back in my chair. "Then I shall start from the very beginning - when I first learned to kill for a living."

I learn forward again to pour myself some more cool lemon tea.

"...kill for a living?" Mami repeats slowly.

"Yes. From an extremely young age, my father trained me in as many arts of killing as he knew and could have me learn. He was the one who taught me the repulsive efficiency that dictates my person inside and out. It was he who showed me the pain of conflict - and the satisfaction of death."

"...who was your father to do such horrible things to you...?"

"General David Baek, 2nd Army Platoon of the Republic of Korea Military Command. I am his daughter, Second Lieutenant Hae Eun Jeannie Baek of the United States Marine Corps, currently off duty. And I will have you know that I loved my father very much while he was still alive."

Mami's eyes grow wide. "While...he was still alive...?"

"My father was assassinated in Seoul, South Korea while on duty, three years ago. Shot in the heart by a subsonic V.S.S. Vintorez bullet at a distance of 350 meters."

"...what of your mother?"

"She passed away at childbirth."

"And siblings?"

"None. Antonia is the closest I have to a sister, and oftentimes I really do see her as an older sister myself."

I sip some tea, and only silence hangs between us.

"Well, now that you're here, perhaps I now have a younger sister," I remark, smiling lightly. Mami breaks a small smile herself, and I continue.

"I learned to fire a gun as soon as I was able to walk. Before kindergarten, I had already slain more people than children my age knew numbers. I was the perfect assassin. South Korea...Brazil...Panama...France...Saudi Arabia...only a few on the laundry list of places that I have been to carry out my work. Because of my appearance, because of my age, I could go places that my father and his compatriots could not - places only an innocent-looking child could slip into, simply because of the fact that no one, not even our enemies, expect a child so young to know how to use a gun or a knife or any sort of weapon. My hands, my soul was already stained with more blood than most Magical Girls will ever see in their lifetimes. All in the name of my father's revenge."

"Revenge? What did he seek?"

"His family had been killed in Seoul when he was a teenager, collateral damage from a plot devised by North Korean assassins to kill the South Korean president at the time. My father vowed to destroy North Korea with his own hands and eventually worked his way up through the American military ranks to be where he was at the time of his death. So obsessed was he with his plan to enact revenge that he sacrificed the sanity of his only daughter to seal it."

"You."

I nod.

"But did you not have any objections to this? Surely you must have hated being in that position?"

Shaking my head, I merely chuckle. "This may be surprising to you, but I actually did not hate being an assassin for Otou-san. While it certainly may not have been enjoyable, I was happy to be helping my father with his work, because at the end of the day, he was the man who provided for me and brought me into this world. No matter how tragic my childhood was, no matter how bloodthirsty my father was, I was determined to follow him to the depths of heaven and hell and back, because he was the only one I had in a world in which I was surrounded by death, blood, pain, and horror. He was the only one..."

I find myself chuckling somberly after that.

"It is almost as if I was destined to be a Magical Girl from the start, by the sounds of how I just described my childhood."

I look up to find Mami gazing down at the glass table on which our chessboard sits.

"...and I believed that I, myself, had a tragic past..."

"If it is not a discomfort, may I know of it as well?"

Mami looks back up at me and tries to smile. "It...is nowhere near as tragic as yours, but...I lost my parents to a traffic accident in which I, too, was involved. That was when I met Kyuubey and made my contract to continue to live, for I felt it was far too early for me to die just yet."

I nod. "I understand."

"But I just cannot help but feel that...looking back, could I not have revived my entire family as well? I feel that my wish was such a selfish one..."

Raising my eyebrows, I interrupt her. "Selfish? You consider a wish to extend your life a selfish one?"

Mami looks back at me, as if I just insulted her. "Why, yes, of course! I wished to continue living! How much more selfish can a wish become? I never even considered the lives of my own parents when I made the contract!"

"I fundamentally disagree. You said you were in a car accident, yes? If you made a wish to keep living, I can only assume you were near death. Your cognitive state is nearly non-existent when you are on the verge of death - by that point, you are operating on only instinct. And it is human instinct to live, to survive, just like any other animal instinct there is. For you to wish for an extension of your life is by no means a 'selfish' thing to wish for, because you simply wanted to live. Anyone would have made the same choice. Minus those who happen to be suicidal, people would have wished to continue living, much as you had chosen to do, Mami. The fact that you did not take into consideration reviving your parents, assuming the power of the contract of Magical Girls is strong enough, may be uncomfortable to bear, but you should by no means feel obligated to suffer for it. You were the one who made the contract, not your parents. My words may sound cruel, but you are not a selfish person, Mami, and I urge you to stop thinking of yourself that way."

Mami shakes her head. "I am grateful for your supportive words, Jeannie-san. I don't think that they are cruel - they only mean the truth, and I can see that. But unfortunately, I cannot help but see my wish as ultimately selfish. I understand that it was sensible, but...there will always be that voice in the back of my mind, constantly asking me why, why I did not save my parents, who deserved to continue living as much as I."

I set down my teacup and fill Mami's back up. "You believe your wish to be selfish, then. Very well - just know that my own wish, for your information, is very similar to yours, but infinitely more selfish."

"How so?"

Tussling my hair, I look down the lengths of my long, disgusting white hair that I so hate. "I was born with a severe case of albinism. That is why, as you can see, I have pure white hair. I was also born with the characteristic red eyes, but they are no longer present due to my wish."

"Your wish was?"

I close my eyes. "To regain my eyesight."

"Oh..."

"Before Otou-san died of his assassination wounds, he ordered his fellow officers to list me as off-duty so that I could have an opportunity to lead a normal middle-school life that he had denied me because of his goals of revenge. Thus, I came back to this home, but only half a year passed before the symptoms of my albinism caused first my right eye, then my left eye, to go blind. I became overcome by rage and frustration. I thought that God was unfairly throwing wrenches into my life that I did not deserve, and out of self-pitying anger, I took my own right eye, simply because of my petty desire to end my own eyesight before my own body could. It was just as my left eye was beginning to give out that Kyuubey found me."

My right hand runs over my face, and I feel the gentle press of my fingers over my eyes.

"Thus, the red eyes that I always hated turned to a normal black, something I am glad to have happened. If only I could have done something about this white hair of mine..."

"Why? Do you not like it?"

I shake my head. My lips curl into a nasty frown. "I hate it."

"But why? It is beautiful. It makes you look beautiful, Jeannie-san. Not everyone has pure white hair as yours."

I cannot help but laugh. "You think so? Because I think it's positively ugly, for the exact reason that you stated, Mami. You said it makes me appear beautiful and graceful, and that's exactly why I hate it. It masks the ugly side of me. It hides who I really am - a bloodthirsty, efficient killing machine that no one happens to know except for my closest of friends, you included. I don't want that. I want people to know who I really am. I want them to be aware, so that later on, they do not feel fooled by it because they had built up a different image of me. It saves me the trouble of the falling out that I would have with them, anyway."

"...but...I still think it looks great on you."

"Thank you, but I see my hair much as you see your wish. It is a matter of perspective, and unfortunately, it seems we disagree on two of them."

I clear my throat.

"Antonia's wish was even more petty and selfish than ours. She simply wished to become stronger. I will not press the point further than this, Mami, but if you really do think your wish is selfish, then I cannot change your opinion, but just know that there are infinitely more Magical Girls who have made their fateful wishes out of pure selfishness and indulgence than yourself."

Mami crosses her arms. "Then if that is the case, I shall convince you that your hair is the most beautiful hair that I have ever seen."

I stroke my own hair. "I do take care of it everyday. Otou-san, too, highly adored my hair. As part of his wishes before he died, he did tell me not to change my hair color for his sake, which is something I have honored to this day."

"What would you have changed it to, if you had the choice?"

"Black. Just like Okaa-san's."

Mami starts pouting. "Mmm...black is too plain and too common. You would seriously start looking like Akemi-san."

"I take it that Akemi Homura has black hair?"

"Indeed. In fact, should you have black hair, I would have trouble telling you two apart."

I sigh quietly and stand, taking the platter with the tea kettle and teacups, but Mami stops me.

"If you are dissatisfied with your hair, at least let me give you a new hairstyle."

I look, puzzled, back at her. "Why?"

"Sometimes a new hairstyle can be refreshing. Have you always had your hair down like this?"

I nod.

"Then it's simple! We only need to change your hairstyle!"

"As charming as your drill hair makes you appear, Mami, I prefer not having them myself."

"I hope you understand drill hair is not the only kind of hairstyle I know how to arrange."

I chuckle a bit.

"Sure, why not."

* * *

"There! All done!"

I examine myself in the mirror in my bedroom.

"Perhaps I was foolish for expecting something fancier."

"Well, I can do that, but I thought it prudent to start with something simple."

"Simple certainly fits the bill. Perhaps a little too well."

"Maybe, but it gives you a fresh new look. So how is it?"

Mami tied my hair up into a single large braid that drapes down in front of my left shoulder. I run my hands along the length of the braid.

"I feel that I have a more graceful look," I comment. "I look older than I am, which I am okay with. It weighs a little bit much on my left shoulder, bu I can get accustomed to it. I like it a lot, thank you, Mami."

Mami beams. "You are very welcome."

"Do you have aspirations to become a hair designer?"

"Aspirations to become a hair designer...I never really held such a desire, but it may not be a bad choice for me in the future."

"You just seemed to enjoy doing my hair, so I thought I would point it out."

Mami smiles, but sadly. "...forgive me if I may sound odd, but...after hearing of your past, I simply wanted to do something that would cheer you up. It just felt to me that you seemed very lonely, much as I feel at times."

I return her smile, stroking my braided hair. "Please don't worry about me, Mami. All these years that I have been fighting, whether my enemy be the enemies of my father or the enemies of Magical Girls, I have hardened my heart to any such emotion. While I do admit that I was overtaken by my own emotion in the months following my father's death, it is no longer a factor to my performance as a Magical Girl now. And, on top of which, I have Antonia to keep me company, so I am no longer lonely. She and I bear the same sins and the same pains."

Mami sits down on the side of my bed. "Then...what would you do if Antonia somehow passes away? Either in a fight with a witch or by another cause?"

My smile is gone. "What makes you think that?"

"I just want to know. It just seems so cruel, that you have found a friend dear to you, and if something happens to her so that you can never see her again, would you not mourn her passing even more so than you have for your father?"

I gaze up at the ceiling. What would I feel, if Antonia died?

"...I would be lying if I told you I would not mourn Antonia's death. If she were killed by a witch, I would probably vent my anger onto that witch and make sure she takes three round trips to heaven and hell before I was done with it. But such is life, no? Once people are dead, there is no way we will see them again. I, of all people, should know that better than anyone, seeing how I am responsible for the deaths of countless amounts of people. I have learned to deal with the heaviest loss in my life - even if Antonia were to die, I would accept it and move on."

I gaze back at Mami.

"Though, I don't think the reverse holds true."

"What do you mean?"

"Antonia most definitely does not share my opinion on this. If I were to die, she wouldn't be able to accept it. I feel that her emotional connection to me is based so heavily on my own life that should I cease to live, her will to live, too, will expire. If there is anyone you should be worried about, it should be Antonia, Mami. She deserves your attention more than I."

"Is that so? But she seems so lively, though..."

"The worst of pains oftentimes hide behind the brightest of smiles, no matter who the person it is you are talking to. Never forget that, Mami."

I stand up from my chair and throw my braided hair over my shoulder, turning round and round simply to feel the weight of my hair following behind me. I hear Mami chuckle quietly again.

"I find it hard to believe that you are roughly my own age, Jeannie-san. You speak and behave far, far older than even I have tried to be to my own underclassmen."

I stop my spinning, looking back at her over my left shoulder.

"The more you kill, the faster you age, after all."

* * *

The next morning, I wake up to find Mami and Antonia cooking breakfast this time.

"How is your leg, Antonia?" I ask, yawning as I enter the kitchen to fill up a cup with some water to drink. I can smell the mouth-watering aromas of hickory-smoked ham and oatmeal from the stove.

"Yo, mornin'! It's fine, it'll be good soon," Antonia jovially return my greeting, concentrating on flipping a pancake with the small skillet. "You want oatmeal or pancakes?"

"Pancakes."

"Alrighty!"

Mami gives me a short nod and her usual warm smile. "Good morning, Jeannie-san."

"Good morning."

"I see you've kept that hair."

"I wish not to waste the efforts of a friend who went through the pains of fixing my hair for me."

"Well, if it is inconvenient for you, it is not as if I would mind you putting your hair down again."

"No, no. It is my way of showing gratitude."

"Ah, I see. You're very welcome~"

"Hairstyle? What'd you do to yer hair?" Antonia turns around to see what my hair looks like. "Ooooohhhh, that looks super good on you! Did Mami do it?"

Mami and I nod.

"Very nice. Hey, hey, Mami, you think you can do my hair just like that later? When you come back home from school?"

"Gladly!"

"Sweeeeet~"

Then, our home phone rings from the hallway. I quickly turn to head out of the kitchen. "I'll go answer it."

"Okay~" Antonia's voice trails after me as I walk to the hallway and pick up the phone. The number is familiar, a number that has not called me in two years. My tongue flips to Korean.

"It is I. What do you want?"

"Long time no see, Lieutenant. I hope you haven't forgotten us."

"How could I? Anyways, what is the problem?"

"We've been getting reports of a certain...how should I say...group of troublemakers planning to rob a bank near your high school. It so happens that they are going to assault it right after you get out from school. You think you can help us?"

"If I refuse?"

"Then we will simply send in Delta, but obviously it's easier if we have a known operative in the vicinity to take care of the matter, even if she is technically classified as off-duty. That is, assuming that you have not lost your touch."

I grin, a very corrupt grin. "Are you doubting me, Kim Daeseung, you bitch?"

He laughs over the phone. "I wish I had the luxury to doubt you, but by that answer, it seems once again, I have nothing to worry about. Let me do my job properly as your father's subordinate."

"Bullshit. You have _nothing _to worry about. Not then, not now, not ever. So long as you're assigned to me, you have it easy the entire ride, Major. And you make it sound like it is a bad thing."

"It is!" I hear a cigarette lighter scratch ablaze over the phone. "Do you know how many times I've submitted reports and reported that I did literally nothing useful because you always did everything yourself?"

"Deal with it. You should have known better than to work with someone like me if you wanted to get fast promotions."

"Oh, well, if you believe that promotions are what I'm after, I'm sorry to say, but you're sorely mistaken."

"Enough with the chitchat, I have school in an hour. Tell me what I need to know about them."

"Very well, Lieutenant. They are a branch of a larger gang, the Bloodz, in Los Angeles, called the Blues. They seem to be a relatively new branch, from my research and the intel that our own operatives have picked up on them. You can identify their members as Blues if you can see blue stripes on their left wrists."

"And they will be robbing a bank."

"Yes. Intel points to their lack of funds from the Bloodz as the cause of this premeditated bank robbery. It seems that their members had borrowed lots of money from their superiors but never really took the time to pay them back, so in desperation, they are planning a bank robbery."

"Which bank?"

"The Bank of America on Hawthorne, past Silver Spur. They will arrive at the bank's parking lot at 2:15 PM today."

"Attack protocol?"

"I would say that is your choice, but I believe I already know what you will choose."

I snort. "Then I will take the liberty of killing everyone, if you do not mind."

"As you wish."

* * *

The fifth period ending bell rings, and I quickly pack my school materials and walk to the back of the classroom, where Mami sits, and lean in close.

"Mami, there is urgent business that I must take care of, but regrettably, I must take you with me. I will explain when we get to the car."

Mami, noting the urgency in my words, nods quickly and packs her things much faster than I have seen her do. We head straight for the parking lot and pile into the Chrysler.

"What is going on?" Mami asks me.

"An old comrade of mine called, asking for some assistance in helping 'keep the peace', so to say."

"An old comrade?"

"A subordinate to Otou-san. Major Dae Seung Kim. He served under my father for longer than I have been alive. He is basically my handler - he handles all the bureaucracy and political pencil-pushing that I would have to do because of my military rank. The phone call earlier this morning was from him, informing me that there is something I should help out with."

I pull the Chrysler out of the parking lot and onto the streets.

"I see. What must you do?"

"I have been told that there is going to be an attempted bank robbery in half an hour's time by members of a group that is known to be affiliated with a a particularly infamous gang from Los Angeles, the big city up north. I have been instructed to stop them."

I glance to my right-view mirror, and I steal a glimpse of Mami's very worried face. "Then, will anyone else be helping you, at least?"

I shake my head. "It is either me by myself, or they will send in another team to do it. It is preferable that I resolve the matter myself."

"...then I will help yo - "

"You are to refrain from assisting me, Mami. This is a job that must only involve me, and me alone."

Mami turns to me. "But these are people you're going to be up against! They are different than fighting witches, no?"

I ease the Chrysler to a stop at a red light intersection.

"Implying that humans are harder to defeat than witches? I wonder what kind of world you live in."

"That's not what I'm trying to say, Jeannie-san! I'm just asking to be able to help you! What do you not understand about th - "

I can't stand for this.

**_CH-KAK!_**

Mami mutes herself as she realizes that I am now holding a .50 Action Express Desert Eagle in my right hand, the muzzle practically touching her forehead. I turn my head to her, and I find myself unable to hide my pained expression.

"Tomoe Mami, you have only been corrupted by the world that no one who is not a Magical Girl will ever see. I, as your friend, wish to see you remain untouched and unblemished by the sins of this world, the world we share with everyone else. I will not let you willingly kill a human being when you do not have to. My soul has already been damned the moment I first took someone else's life. I truly believe that it will be a damn shame to see a friend I have only recently made become damned to the same pains of the same fate as I suffer. Please, Mami. Leave this in my hands."

Mami gazes at me intensely, a cold sweat dribbling down the side of her face. She closes her eyes.

"...I understand. I will not participate."

The Desert Eagle in my hand disappears, and the traffic light turns green.

"Thank you."

After reaching the bank parking lot and waiting for some fifteen minutes inside my car, I see a rather dilapidated white Ford pickup pull into the parking lot behind my car, directly facing the entrance of the bank. I look in my rearview mirror, and I can see several young men in bandanas. I catch a glimpse of the man sitting shotgun pull out a pistol, and I reach inside my business coat and press a small microchip that serves as my communicator with Major Kim.

"Targets sighted. Proceeding to terminate."

_"Weapons free, Lieutenant. Good hunting."_

The men exit the pickup, slam the doors shut, and quickly rush towards the entrance doors and throw them open. Promptly, the screams of civilians inside and various shoutings can be heard, and I exit my own car to follow. As I am halfway across the parking lot, I hear another door from the direction of my car snap shut, but I have no time to tell Mami to stay where she is.

I throw open the door to the bank, and the targets have already seized control of the situation. My combat reflexes kick in, and in a split moment's time, I analyze the situation and grasp a swift plan of action to defuse it, before any of the assailants can react to my entrance.

The man with the gun is standing closest to me, shouting instructions.

There are four more targets, but they are armed with only bats and kitchen knives.

The security officer who was supposed to be on duty is lying near me against the wall, unconscious. There is a trickle of blood flowing lightly from his forehead, meaning the man with the baseball bat has already struck him to that state.

Eliminate the man with the gun. Then, the rest will be easy.

The young man with the pistol turns around to see who else followed in after them into the bank, but before he can point his gun at me, I am already in front of him. I grab his right wrist and thrust it downwards, and he fires a bullet off in panic as my right fist pounds his stomach and twists clockwise to enhance the pain. Turning, I plant my left foot into his stomach again and rip the pistol out of his hands as he tumbles across the floor of the bank building. I speedily release the magazine of the pistol, which turns out to be a Beretta Px4 Storm, field-strip the parts rapidly, and toss the parts onto the ground to render it unusable as the other gang members charge me, now that I am their highest priority.

"Jeannie, look out!" Mami shrieks. It seems she has gone against my instructions to stay inside the car and has followed me inside, but I could care less about that right now.

Charging in back at them, I duck underneath their swings of baseball bats and knives easily and vault over onto my hands so that my feet that are wearing my Magical Girl costume boots are at even level with their upper bodies. And before they know what is going on, four 6-inch blades slide out like bayonets from the fronts and the backs of my boots. I twist my body sharply, and my boot blades rip out various portions of the would-be robbers' faces. They helplessly topple to the ground around me, relinquishing their weapons and grasping at their faces in extreme pain as I gracefully vault onto my feet again. The man whom I disarmed, whom I am assuming to be the ringleader, still wheezing because of my kick, attempts to stand back up to run for the door, but I stoop down to pick up one of the knives that his comrades dropped on the floor and throw it at him, and the knife wedges itself deeply into his back, dead center between his shoulderblades, and he gives out one last cry of pain before his body crunches back onto the ground and crashes into an armchair. I press the microchip inside my jacket.

"Major, this is Lieutenant. The situation is under control."

_"Nicely done. Any casualties?"_

"One; they managed to render the security officer unconscious, but no other notable casualties."

_"I see. Check on that casualty please, since he or she is the only one there. The local police have been notified and are on their way."_

I hurry over to the unconscious security officer, where Mami is already kneeling and is checking his vital signs.

"How is he?" I ask her in English.

"He has a concussion and a major fracture to this part of his skull." Mami waves her palm over his coronal suture. "I think he will make it, but he requires immediate medical attention."

I turn to the bank employees and customers, still shocked at the course of events. "Someone, please get us some first aid! This man needs it immediately!"

My yell jolts the bank employees and managers back to life, and several of them bolt upstairs to retrieve said medical supplies. One of the managers hurries over to us.

"Is Mr. Hutchins alright?" he asks, very worried for his coworker. "I-I don't know what happened exactly, it was - they just came in so suddenly, and the first one they attacked was him - "

"He will be fine, sir, but he'll need to get to a hospital right away if we want to make sure he does not suffer permanent brain damage," I say to the manager firmly. "The police will be here soon, so please calm down."

A bank employee soon arrives with a small box of first aid, and I wrap the security officer's head with gauze as Mami uses some of the cotton balls to wipe away the blood. "Mami, make sure he doesn't fall over and stays as he is, we do not want blood to rush into his head when he is in this state. Sir, please watch them for a moment - I must deal with these men first."

The bank manager nods somewhat frantically, and I walk over to the boys lying in the middle of the bank. One of them has fainted from the shock of his wounds, but the other two show signs of resistance, so I kneel beside one of them, pull him up by the collar, and punch him right into the face, knocking him out. The last guy grabs his dropped knife beside him and lunges at me, but I deftly grab the knife by its blade, pull my fist back to redirect the trajectory of his attack, and punch him, too, this time in the nose. The force of my punch neutralizes the momentum of his lunge, so he simply flops onto the ground, and I twist the knife out of his hands. Kicking him over and putting my right knee on his chest, I hold his knife against his neck and hiss at him in a low voice.

"Stay down like a good boy, and you will live. Understand?"

He hisses back at me in Spanish. "Fuck you, you dumb bitch, you don't understand anything, so shut the fuck up, slut!"

I reply to him in kind, taking him by surprise. "Let me rephrase that. Be quiet and stay down, and you will live." I press the knife against his neck to further the point, and he ceases to struggle.

"People like you won't ever understand," he whispers, gasping with pain from the wound that I inflicted onto him with my boot blades. "The shit me and my buddies went through, the shit we had to put up with. We're just trying to scrape by, livin' in a world that fucking hates us to hell. Why can't you understand that, huh? Why? Why? What've we done to deserve these fucking rotten lives? Tell me that, chica! Tell me that! Tell me why this world's gotta paint us as the bad guys all the fucking time!"

I hear the police sirens off in the distance. "You are not the only one, senor. If you think you and your people are the only ones who think of themselves as oppressed peoples, you are badly mistaken. There are people out there that have suffered hundred times worse than you, people who know your exact feelings but know far more than just that. And those people may even be people you will never imagine would be able to understand you. The thing you fail to understand is that there are no good guys or bad guys in our world, senor. Only the people who know how to live and be successful. Only the people who know how to survive."

The police storm the bank and assume control, and they arrest the men who have tried to rob the bank. The paramedics load the injured security officer into the back of the ambulance. Mami and I slip out during the commotion and drive away from the scene, heading for home.

"I believe I told you to stay inside the car, Mami," I say, breaking the solemn silence between us.

"...I'm sorry, but...I couldn't stay in here. I was too worried about you, Jeannie-san. I did not want you to get hurt, so...I had to follow you inside."

"Then did my competence persuade you adequately that there is no reason for you to worry about me?"

Mami nods, but very slowly. "...even though I have seen the terrible deaths of many, many witches, I...I am still amazed by your decisiveness."

"Decisiveness in killing other human beings?"

Mami jumps, as though I prodded her with a red-hot poker. "...I...didn't mean it in that sense, but..."

"I was not lying to you when I said that I am used to this trade. The trade of killing fellow human beings. It is not one that I am proud of, but if it is to save other human beings, then I will shoulder that sin."

As we pull into the garage, I turn to Mami. "But thank you regardless for your concern. To your own credit, you had the courage yourself to follow me willingly into a hell that was only meant for me, yet you dove into it without fear or concern to your own health. Although that decision of yours was extremely risky, I appreciate your support, Mami."

Mami smiles at me.

"You're welcome!"


End file.
